some days you get what you ask for

[Dean May]

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I'll ditto that. I rarely replace bass strings anymore, and never with
universals. (why do I still carry them around???) Almost always I am
able to tie them. If I can't I replace them with Mapes duplicates,
always the pair on a bicord, never just one. 
 
I really appreciated the tip a few months ago about putting the loop in
the leader string with needle nose vice grips, using a continuous motion
making a very small hole. Check out the archives. It was posted on
4/13/05 from David Vanderhoovfen with pictures. 
 
Dean
Dean May             cell 812.239.3359
PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272
Terre Haute IN  47802
 
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of David Ilvedson
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 9:37 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: RE: some days you get what you ask for
 

As a pain in the ass as it is to come back, I've quit using universals
and always mail the string to Mapes for duplicating.   It does cost the
customer more but, imho, it matches the other string much better.   
D.I...
  _____  

Original message
From: Piannaman@aol.com
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Received: 10/2/2005 6:39:31 PM
Subject: some days you get what you ask for



List,
 
Friday was certainly an interesting day on the job.  First piano was an
old Erhard upright, a nice old box made in 1919, pretty good shape.  It
had a broken high treble string on it, which I'd been aware of, and I
replaced it no problem.
 
Next piano, Acrosonic, circa 1950s.  Pitch raise, twang, G#2 wound
bicord snapped. A perfect candidate for one of the universal bass
strings a lug around.  As usual, spinning off excess copper was the most
time consuming part of this job.  Again, no real problem.
 
I was thinking about how much I've improved in various repairs, thanks
to many tips gleaned from this list and elsewhere in the PTG.  This type
of repair was once something I dreaded, now it's just something I do in
the line of duty.  "But," I told myself, "don't get cocky.  How long's
it been since you've replaced a long wire in an understrung section of a
piano?"  It had been awhile.
 
Which brings me to the next piano:  Steinway, a regular client, a
nemesis piano that always finds a way to lengthen the appointment beyond
an acceptable length.  A 1915 or so M re-whatevered badly a couple of
decades ago.  I was hoping for the best, but it was the usual 8-10 cent
late-summer pitch raise.  No problem, at least until I got to A3.
Twang.  The A#3-A3 wire snapped.  Went to the car, got stringing stuff
including tube to get string onto hitch pin.  In the failing light of
the day, I got the job done, but time would have been saved had I
brought in my shop light so I could see better to route the wire through
the bridge pins.
 
The upside:  3 strings on the day, no bloody finger tips.
 
The weirdness:  Haven't had a string break in a few months.  Why did
they all gang up on me on one day???
 
Tip #1:  putting some tension on the wire makes it MUCH easier to get
the string placed properly around the bridge pins in the understrung
areas.  
 
Tip #2:  Lighting is a good thing when doing this sort of job!
 
Thanks for reading,
 
Dave Stahl

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