Why NOT to polish bass strings.......

[reggaepass at aol.com]

I had a client years ago (name withheld in accordance with the 
guidelines of thepeople who did something dumb to their piano 
protection program).   He was very excited about the ten year old 
European boutique piano he had bought.  He polished the brass case 
parts (with Brasso) and the shinier everything got, the more 
enthusiastic he became.  After conquering the outside  of the piano, 
you guessed it, he just had to take it to the proverbial "next level."  
He called me in horror the next day when he realized that he had killed 
his bass strings.

Alan Eder

P. S. Replacing the bass strings was expensive.  The upside to this 
tale is that we decided to restring the entire instrument (which I had 
never done on a piano this "young").  The only thing we did while the 
strings were off was to spend a few minutes polishing the capo bar.  
WOW, what a difference for the better that made!  Who would have thunk 
it?  Not me, at least not prior to that experience.

ae

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