Pinafore

[Jim]

The Pinafore was made in the 50's and 60's as a competitive piano
and for those who lived in small trailers or apartments.  The biggest
problem with them was the tendency of the Bass strings to jump over
their coils at the T pins.  When this happens, it greatly elevates the
chance of the string breaking at that point during tuning. This is
especially true with the lower row of tuning pins.

As a precautionary move, I would always loosen the string, and then with
a screwdriver placed above the coil on the top side of the T pin, I
would give it a tap to lean the coil at an angle so that the string
coming away from the pin would not be as likely to jump over the previous
coil.  The cause of the problem is that the Bass V bar is so high and
the coils are so low, thereby making an extreme angle from bottom of
coil to V bar.  In more moderate cases, you can lightly tap the string
where it just begins to jump over its previous coil without loosening
the string.  It is better to do it this way because there is less
destabilizing of the string hence better tuning stability.

BTW Story & Clark Consoles exhibited this same problem.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Thu, 23 Jan 1997, Dennis Benson wrote:

> Has anyone had experience with a Gulbransen Pinafore. It's a very small
> piano with 2 pedals, no key cover, and 2-string unisons.
> 	Thanks also for your expert discussion on all piano matters. I'm
> mostly a listener and learner.
> 	Dennis Benson RPT
>