string settling

[Alan]

Inquiring mimes want to know: Does "...twisted in the direction of the
winding ..." mean clockwise or counter? Is the pin, perhaps, moving a
hair? Is there a danger of nicking the wire with the grips? How do you
NOT get the becket involved since you must grab all three coils? 

Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of A440A@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 2:03 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: string settling

Mike writes: 
<<  To the extent that we can tighten these bends during stringing,
the initial tunings will be less unstable.  Even in the best scenario,
these bends continue to "improve" for several tunings/years, until they
eventually settle down and are less of a factor than all the other
things
which cause pianos to go out of tune. >>

Greetings, 
   I wondered where all the flattness came from in a new string. 
   There are several places where the loss of pitch is measurable.  
Installing a new string on C5 of a Hamburg B, (recording studio piano
that was to be 
used that day),  I pulled it up 20 cents sharp and left it there for the
rest of 
the tuning. Then I went back and measured it, finding it to have fallen
on 
its own to 4 cents sharp.  I lightly tapped the hitch pin area and the
aliquot 
bends fore and aft and it went just below pitch, (I'm guessing it was no
more 
than 4 cents flat).  I pulled it up to 8 cents sharp and lightly tapped
behind 
the distal bridge pin and saw it drop another 3 cents.  Pulling it up to
pitch 
I tapped in front of the proximal bridge pin and it dropped another 3
cents.  
Pulling it up to pitch I then gently lifted the string in front of the
Capo 
bar and it dropped 5 cents.  Pulling it up again I then lifted the
string 
behind the capo bar and it dropped 3 cents. 
   <sigh>  Pulled it up to 4 cents sharp and tapped front and back of
the 
string rest behind the capo bar and it fell another 3 cents. Pulled it
up 4 cents 
sharp and massaged the whole length of the string and nothing changed.
Ah,  
I thought I had it!  
   Then, on a thought, I took a small pair of vise-grips and grabbed the

coil, (not the becket, which I had flattened upon installation).  I
applied a fair 
amount of grip to the coil and twisted in the direction of the winding
and 
the string dropped 15 cents!
   I then pulled the string 8 cents sharp and beginning at the back,
went 
through the entire tapping from back to front.  It dropped 2 cents.  I
twisted 
the coil once more and it dropped another 2-3 cents.  I tuned the damn
thing and 
go out of there.  No call backs and the next day it was only about 1 or
two 
cents flat. I pulled it up and it has behaved like all the other strings
ever 
since.  
   The coil would theoretically have an unlimited amount of drop, since
the 
friction around it would prevent the string right before the becket from
ever 
"seeing" the full tension.  I have since put the vise-grips on several
pianos 
that were 1-2 years old and every time, there is a significant drop in
pitch.  
I now incorporate this step after the other settling tapping has been
done. 
  On a sidenote,  the hitch pin coils on bass strings will, if given a
gentle 
squeeze and wiggle, usually produce a 10-20 cent drop on their own, even

after a year or two, so I go through them after the first several
chippings and 
before I begin tapping the bends further "downstream".  If the wire is
going to 
be moving toward the tuning pins that much, I don't want to deform it
around 
the bridgepins etc. before I relax the hitch pin coils. 
Regards,  
Ed Foote RPT 
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
 <A
HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/399/six_degrees_of_tonality.html">
MP3.com: Six Degrees of Tonality</A>

Ed Foote RPT 
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
 <A
HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/399/six_degrees_of_tonality.html">
MP3.com: Six Degrees of Tonality</A>
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