[pianotech] Breaking bass string

[John Delacour]

At 15:29 -0700 10/04/2011, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

>Over the past 5 to 7 decades there have been quite a few pianos built with
>speaking lengths at C-88 between 52 and 54 mm. Quite a few of the Japanese
>pianos have come with C-88 speaking lengths of 55 and 56 mm. Aside from
>those pianos using excessively dense and massive hammers there hasn't been a
>lot of string breakage.

It could be that the Japanese wire is stronger at least in these 
sizes;  I have no idea, but surely the only question worth asking is, 
do these pianos produce a better or a stronger sound in the high 
treble?  Then, you say there hasn't been a lot of string breakage, 
but you are someone who is aware of the dangers.  That can't be said 
for all tuners.  I wonder how much string breakage there is under 
less careful hands.

Another question that I raised off-list with someone is whether the 
actual tension required to bring these very short strings to pitch is 
less than the calculated tension.  I'd like to test this one day.

JD