In a message dated 3/30/99 12:10:41 PM Central Standard Time, JPIESIK@arinc.com writes: << I've heard that strings should never break during a tuning *if* you are using the proper technique. The proper technique, per one opinion, is to *always* lower tension before turning a pin.>> Once, when tuning a Steinway L, the customer noted that a particular bichord unison had a strange sound. I could hear it too and thought it was possibly due to the strings having been twisted too many times (it sounded like that to me, anyway). I had tuned this piano before without incident and did not do as described above (I rarely do that). When I decided to lower the tension on one string to take it off the hitch pin to see if it was overly twisted, it broke upon the first movement counterclockwise. I thought that this was very unusual. I had told the customer that the best solution in this case was to replace both strings. New strings were ordered. When I went to lower the tension of the other string, it broke too. << I thought that strings break during a tuning for a variety of reasons, most that we cannot control. Can we *completely* avoid string breakage during a tuning by using a particular tuning technique as I was told? >> No, not in my opinion. In my experience, they always break when you least expect them to or else when you just really don't need the aggravation. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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