EMERSON 1895 PIANO WITH N

[Frederick G Scoles]

On Tue, 4 Jun 1996, Cedar Mill Piano Tuner wrote:

> > Emersons must have been high tension scales because they always seem to
> >be string breakers.
>
>  I do that.  What's your opinion on the question of what, if any, lubricant may be used to

> reduce friction from rust?  At the "Hopeless Piano" class last Summer (Alb, NM) the
> answer was (surprising to me) Liquid Wrench.
>
> > Remember when splicingbass strings to use a splicing segment that is 1/2 size
> > larger than the core wire.
>
As for Liquid Wrench to prevent string breakage, I have tried it and it
seems to work, but lately I have tried Protek CPL (from most piano supply
companies) with good results.  The CPL doesn't have any objectionable
odors and is always in my toolcase anyway.  Using a hypodermic syringe
with about a 20 guage needle, less than one ml (milliliter or cc) is
enough for the entire piano (a small droplet on each string). I don't
know if either Liquid Wrench or CPL would have any long-term negative
effects, but on older or lower quality uprights, or rusty strings I
prefer to not break strings. Pitch raised a 1972 Cabaret Player 150cents
last week, and a 1914 Newton player 250 cents (hadn't been tuned in 70
years) yesterday using CPL and no problems (so far).
Last time I spliced a string was in a local high school; the music
teacher walked into the room at the wrong instant, I flinched and the
blood flew a couple inches.  Maybe the guild should create conditions like
that for tieing the knot during bench exams!

Fred Scoles, RPT,  Syr. Chapter 131