Bass strings in Overdrive!

[Ron Nossaman]

>So I did the unthinkable, the unspeakable, the horrible and unforgivable
>to one of them.  I regulated it so that the bass end of the piano has
>the letoff set at about 1/2 inch from the strings, and a very heavy
>aftertouch.  It's really not as obnoxious as it sounds to play, but it
>worked wonders for breaking strings.  Instead of breaking a string or
>two in a week or two, we're down to a string or two every quarter or so.
>
>What I want to know,... what can I do to make the strings less likely to
>break under such severe working conditions??  Could the string scale be
>redesigned to be less vulnerable? as in a higher or lower tension?
>
>Ok, ok, I'll tell you what they are... one is a Baldwin 5'? grand, and
>the other is a Samick 5'? grand.  Baldwin hasn't been any real help, not
>to say they didn't try.  They sent a new set of strings to install.  But
>we still had the problem.  I hate 'deregulating' it to accomplish an end
>result of saving the strings, but what else would you try???
>
>I look forward to your input!
>
>Thanks,
>
>Brian Trout
>Quarryville, Pa.
>


Hi Brian,
Baldwin is really helpful with this kind of problem, at least as helpful as
they can be short of shooting the piano player. I think you did exactly the
right thing (short of shooting the piano player). When a piano is being used
outside the reasonably normal parameters of performance, and into the land
of abuse, you have to do what ever you can to limit the size of the debris
field. In the tidy world of the purist, pianos aren't pounded and pianists
are willing to limit their enthusiasm to the design limitations of the
instrument. In the real world of adrenalin, endorphins, the "muse", or just
plain gettin' down, the process sometimes exceeds the limitations of the
hardware. The only realistic thing you can do under the circumstances is to
disable the self destruct features of the hardware to what ever degree you
can without compromising function too much. If you have ever set in on one
of these sessions in progress, it seems like a fair trade. There are times
when the passion supersedes the limitations. It ain't adjustable. Get funky.

 Ron