de-stringing

[Mark Story]

Hi Barry,

Since I can remember, I have just sheared off the becket with a simple coil
tightener tool and a hammer.  Now the suppliers over here are selling a
tool they call a "becket breaker" which, I assume, has a hardened tip (I
don't see much difference, except the color).  I have used this method both
with the tension up and down, on grands and uprights.  This can save your
plate and cabinet the wear and tear that you describe as long as you don't
bang the coil all the way down to the plate.  The only downside is the
hassle of dealing with the sheared-off beckets.  Sometimes they lodge
between the pin and the plate web on bushingless plates, slightly
complicating extracting pins.

Once the beckets are sheared, you can either pull the coils off the pins
and then extract, or extract first and deal with the strings later.  The
rest of the process depends on the pressure bar/agraff configuration.  On a
typical upright, you can just unscrew the pressure bar and lift the strings
straight into the trash bin.  With agraffs, you'll have to clip the coil
end off before you can pull the wire through the agraffs, of course.

This was the part of the job I always look forward to, since you can (seem
to) accomplish so much in just a few minutes.

Mark Story, RPT
Eastern Washington University
mstory@ewu.edu

> I was de-stringing a piano this morning and wondered if anyone on the 
> list had a quicker way of doing it or a nifty little tool for the job.