Victorian Pins WAAAAAAY tight!

[Greg Casper]

Hey everyone:

I've got a customer with an 1896 G. Challenger & Co. vertical. We're
replacing bass strings, 'cuz they was bad! Anyway, when I was releasing
tension on the stings, the pins were EXTREMELY tight... in fact, I ended up
only giving each pin about a quarter turn and then cutting the strings once
the tension was down.

Question is... what might cause this and how do I deal with it when I go to
install the new strings? It seems to be the same all the way up the
pinblock, as I also relieved tension on some upper strings to keep from
overloading that side of the plate, and they behaved the same way.

Ideas or suggestions gladly accepted.

Thanks

Greg Casper
San Jose, CA