[CAUT] unusual repair

[Willem Blees]

We've got a concert tonight featuring Aleck Karis. He prefered 
the "old" Steinway. One of the problems with this instrument is that 
there are several pins in octave 1 that are not very tight. Yesterday, 
low E finally gave out. So this morning I replaced it with a 4, but in 
the process, the string broke. First at the becket, but then after I 
wrestled with that for a few minutes, as I brought it up to pitch, the 
string broke at the pin. I told the professor in charge of this 
concert that there is nothing I could, and the Alexk would have to use 
the "new" D. An hour later I got a call from one of our piano 
professors, who has a D in his studio. He said "use my E". I said I 
would try, but there would be a chance that that string would break 
too. He said, what have we got to loose? 

So I did. I took the E off his piano, and put it on the concert hall 
piano. So far, knock on wood, it's working. Another first for me. 

PS: I did order another E, but it won't be here until tomorrow. 
Obviously not in time for tonight's concert, but in time for this 
weekend's concert, featuring Boris Berman, playing Mozart #2. 

Wim 
Willem Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technician
School of Music
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL USA
205-348-1469