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

[Diane Hofstetter]

Replacing the bass strings not only gives a better tone, it is easier and 
more efficient than any kind of cleaning I've ever tried--and I've tried 
many.  The boiling described below would take an inordinate amount of time 
compared to putting on new ones.



Diane Hofstetter




----Original Message Follows----
From: "Pianotuner" <pianotuner at telenet.be>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: RE: Why NOT to polish bass strings.......
Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:56:41 +0200

Hi Stéphane and all,

About boiling the strings...
I had very recently a set that needed replacement on a small grand in my
shop. I read something about that boiling of string before, so I tried
everything in the book and nothing seemed to help, so I decided to boil them
and I can assure you that this did not improved anything to the sound... if
not made it worse. So I think the only good way is to either add an extra
twist in the direction of the copper winding before putting the string back
on or just replace the string(s). Indeed rubbing with steel wool will make
them shiny but leaves small particles of the steel wool between the windings
which in most cases makes the string duller then before.

Conclusion: The boiling test is done but was not successful.

Maybe they needed longer boiling time, I boiled them up to 10 min.
I think for guitarists it more to get the grease from their fingers out of
the windings, but in our case it is dust, corrosion and aging.

Kind regards,
Peter Joris


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Stéphane Collin
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 12:06
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Why NOT to polish bass strings.......

Hi Gordon.

Indeed, any liquid/chemical mean to polish the bass string will unfavourably

alter the tone of the bass strings.  I don't understand why this is.  My
guess : it is the minute shocks between the brass windings that make the
high partials of the tone.  Anything in between the windings (dirt, paste,
and all) will damp the minute shocks, thus the high tones.
While we are there, may I just mention again what did work for me and what
didn't, in order to bring back some brightness in the tone ?
Mechanical rubbing of the brass (scotch brite, steel wool) does improve the
look, but not the sound.
Removing the string from the hitch pin, making a large loop in it and
running the loop back and forth along the string has mixed results :
sometimes some brightness comes back, sometimes not at all.
Removing the string from the hitch pin and twisting it in the direction of
the winding before putting it back on the hitch can bring some of the
brightness back, certainly with many turns, but it also affects the
inharmonicity of the string, and after three or four twists, the sound of
the string becomes objectionnable.
Removing just the tension of the string, leaving it in place, and banging it

hard with heavy hammer strokes works great, nice results, but one every 4
strings so treated breaks when pulled back to tension.
Replacing the strings with new ones works like wonder, assumed that you wait

until the strings have settled.

I heard that guitarists who can't afford buying a new set of strings (the
majority of those) have good results boiling the strings in boiling water.
I never tried this with a piano string, but am wanting to hear comments from

those who did.

Hoping to raise some more comments.

Best regards.

Stéphane Collin.

----- Original Message -----
From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp at yahoo.com>
 >     Was it what I used, or will ANY polishing of bass
 > strings harm the tone ??? I won't do any more, until
 > certain.