New Bass String - Eye Unwinding.

[J Patrick Draine]

On Monday, May 13, 2002, at 03:39 PM, John Ross wrote:

> Hi List,
> I just replaced a set of bass strings, on a 1948 Heintzman, apartment 
> size
> piano.
> The customer did not want the bass strings, rescaled.
> The top six strings had a problem, of the pitch dropping, drastically. 
> It
> was the eye slipping.
>

I don't know anything about the nature of original Heintzman scales, but 
if it might have been restrung in the past, consider this anecdote.
A customer had an elderly Beckstein grand which had been rebuilt several 
decades ago. I replaced the hammers, and maintained the piano for a 
number of years. A bass string broke while tuning, and I had a 
"duplicate" made by Tuners Supply. This one also went flat very fast, 
and in due course also broke.
Eventually I brought the x-generation sample to Dave Sanderson, and 
asked him to have his Dad rescale the string. He was reluctant (they 
generally only rescale sets, not singles) but as he was new at string 
making, he agreed to do it.
Well, the tension necessary to get the string I handed to him up to 
pitch was about 600 inch-lbs!! No wonder they stretched & snapped!
The recalculated D-1 (#6) string tuned & sounded great!

Patrick Draine