Dear Les, I was tuning for a concert and the string with the pin closest to the agraffes, number three or four, broke and went flying across the stage. Now THAT is a frightening sound. After my heart started again I looked at the situation and I had no choice but to splice the string with a number twenty eight cut off I had from replacing the neighboring string. I have NO idea how I did it, but I did because I had to. I splice strings on a regular basis IF the *%&%#$ students leave the string in the room, otherwise I have to order a replacement. If I have enough room I will splice in the speaking length and if I don't have enough room I will peel back some of the winding. I make a small loop in the old string and a large loop in the replacement string. Large enough to slide over the diameter of the wrap. I bend the loops almost 89 degrees so the loops can slide together unimpeded. I then use vise grips to the end of the new wire and pull with my full weight to close up the loops and check the integrity of the splice. If the string is out of the piano I put a capstan wrench through the tail loop and pull up hard with the capstan under my shoes. _My_ problem is remembering which way I turned the first loop since they have to be turned in opposite directions. Life it tough sometimes. Newton
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