Rick, The first thing I would suggest would be to get a copy of The Guide to Restringing by John Travis. He has a pretty good procedure laid out. You do not need to lower the tension on all the strings and you do not need to send all the strings in for replacement. The Schaff catalog has a good description of how to make a bass string pattern that I have been using for years with good results. Also you can check out Jim Arledge's web site and give him a call he has an interesting procedure for ordering strings. There are, in my opinion, no coiling tools that are worth the money. For removing the old strings buy a beckett breaker, lower the tension 1/4 to 1/2 turn put the breaker over the tuning pin and hit it with a hammer this will then allow you to take out the tuning pins with a power drill which needs to be a slow drill so as not to heat up and burn the holes. Then you cut all the coils off and just pull the wires out through the agraffes. You need to vacuum up all the little ends of wire and be carefull not to get them lodged in the tuning pin holes. The criteria I use for deciding how many sizes to go up in pins is by using an inch pound wrench if the tension is 20 to 50 go up two sizes anything above 50-60 go up one size. After the strings are off is a good time to do some cleaning. Replace the understring felt, run some abrasive cord (from pianotech) through the agraffes and CA glue the bridge pins. When you install the new strings make sure to mask everything to avoid damaging the plate or soundboard. Cut some cardboard to cover the board and run a couple of layers of tape across the plate underneath the agraffes. I hope this has answered some of your questions there will be many more that come up as you progress through the job. have fun. Michael _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/
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