String Replaced

[Isaac OLEG SIMANOT]

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Jerking and "yanking" of the tuning hammer and pin seems to me the most
rapid method to weaken the strings.

When I was a beginner tuner I had a few strings broken because of jerking.
Actually I use a much softer method, did not break a string in years (even
on some rusty old out of pitch pianas I had put in a little better shape
sometime).

Sometime we hear it when a string is near to break, while tuning the string
you hear it is not stiff enough, even when rendering well the hammer produce
less effect than expected. A short time after, the string will break if not
while tuning.

During the concert you hear a unison slipping , at the end the sting snaps!

Isaac OLEG




  -----Message d'origine-----
  De : owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]De la part de
Kevin E. Ramsey
  Envoyé : jeudi 28 février 2002 02:41
  À : pianotech@ptg.org
  Objet : Re: String Replaced


  Laura wrote;

      "Now that the Middle C string has been replaced, here is what the
technician
  thought about my Baldwin:  he said it was "not undangerous" to tune
because
  the pins are quite tight, but when they move they move a great amount
  unexpectedly.  He thought I probably had that happen."

      A tuning pin that is still tight may give a cracking sound when you
finally get it to move, but it won't move far enough to break a string. Do
you have a few pins that are unusually loose for the rest of the piano?  If
so, you can go to the next tuning pin, thinking that you're going to have to
give it a mighty yank, like all the rest, and it goes zoom! Even then, I
doubt that very many people would go too far before they stopped pulling on
the tuning hammer. Perhaps what really happened here, is that the piano has
really really tight pins, and over the years various tuners have been
yanking those tuning pins back and forth trying to get that pin in tune. All
that flexing of the wire can weaken it.

      "Apparently, there are also two or more cracks in the soundboard,
which were
  repaired earlier, but he also suggested it makes string breakage more
  possible; somehow to do with getting the piano pitch to A 440, which was
  done two weeks before, but makes for tricky tuning.  Too advanced for me,
  I'm afraid. "

      First of all, if the cracks have been repaired, then they may as well
not be there.  I have tuned many pianos that had cracks in the soundboards,
and they tune just the same as regular pianos. The problem with the cracks
is they might affect tuning stability (Never had any complaints, though) and
they can cause buzzes against the ribs.

      "Incidentally, the technician replaced the string in about 20 minutes;
the
  Middle C string passes under the bass strings, which makes the process a
  little harder and takes a little more finesse.  (It's also much more
  difficult to reach the bridge pins, since they lie under the bass string
  section, in order to tap them in.)  However, he noticed the bridges were
  made with a graphite treatment/layer for the strings to pass over them
with
  less friction.  I asked him to lubricate them, but he didn't see the need
  given the graphite layer on the bridges.  Baldwin evidently has a clever
  feature there!"

      You mean the bridges you see there don't have graphite on them?  I
don't think I've ever seen a piano that didn't have that black stuff on the
bridges. Getting the string back to the hitch pin isn't really a problem to
any of us either. Why?  Because we're not afraid to get in there and move
those bass strings to the side if we have to. We'd probably touch up the
tuning after doing a string replacement anyway, so no big deal.

      It's normal to be cautious when learning to tune, but I don't think
that you should be so concerned. Good luck, and don't worry so much.






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