Horrors, no! Not to replace a string. For bass strings, get a medium to large sized safety pin. Put the point through the loop of the string and around the adjacent bass string. Close the pin. Gently wiggle the pin and string down to the bridge. Lie down on the floor. Unhook the pin, hanging on to the string loop. Place the loop on the hitch pin. Use a medium-sized alligator clip (Radio Shack) to secure it. Thread the string onto the bridge pins. Use another clip (or move the first one) to the upper bridge pin. Stand up. Take end of wire and stretch to pin, being sure it is not tangled up with other strings or, more likely, dampers! Install string on pin. Take slack out of string but don't put any real tension on it until you've checked and seated the string on the bridge and tapped the loop down on the hitch pin. Remove clip(s). Pull the string up with tension, but not to pitch. Reseat string at all termination points and the loop. Bring to pitch + maybe 10 cents. Etc. For trebles the procedures are the same except as follows: Go to any auto parts store. Buy a straight piece of brake line tubing (Not real thin or fat and about five feet long). Cut this in half. Weld, solder, or epoxy (JB Weld is great) these pieces together, with the flared ends on the same end and maybe a half-inch apart. Thread your wire from the flared end out the bottom then back up to the top. Wire is cheap, leave a generous amount to work with at the top (cut from the coil, so you have two free ends) and a "loop" about 2" long at the bottom. Guide the rod down past the dampers, lifters, etc. Hook the loop onto the hitch pin. Use alligator clips--make dang sure it is secure. Stand up. Gently unsheathe the strings by pulling the tube up and out of the piano--making sure to catch the wires from under the tube tool BEFORE you have totally pulled it out so the wires don't have a chance to twist like Chubby Checker! Alligator clip one side to a convenient nearby string, install the other on the pin. Do remember to thread the string under the pressure bar before putting it on the pin--DASHIKI. Then install the other string and do the whole tensioning, seating, stretching, thing. The tool is cheap, easy, and cool. Without it, the job is a nightmare. Have fun. Brush your teeth. Write if you get a real job. Bye ... Alan Barnard Salem, MO -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Charles Neuman Sent: Monday, May 26, 2003 6:27 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: spinet string repairs I'm curious about techniques and tools for replacing strings on spinets without removing the action. I recently discovered why people recommend removing the action. I could get the string on the hitch pin, but it kept popping off, and the whole thing took me about 45 minutes. If I had the right tools, I think I could do it more quickly. I noticed in one catalog there was a tool which was like a long straw, and it helped you get the string over the hitch pin. The next thing that is needed is a good way to clamp the string to the hitch pin and bridge pins while you're installing the ends of the string. I could picture a really long vice grip needle nose pliers with padded jaws. You could clamp the string in place somehow. Or a really thick rubber band that goes around the hitch pin and stretches over the brige pins and up to the tuning pins. This might put enough pressure to keep the string on the bridge pins. Anybody have any techniques or tools to share, or is it really easier to just remove the whole action? Charles Neuman PTG Assoc, Long Island _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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