Restringing

[MR STEPHEN R HAASCH]

Re:  Mark Krieger

        I work on some of the most aweful instruments a man can get their
hands on.  I am 1 1/2 years into the business.  Largely self trained.  I
take the junk and offscowering of the earth pianos and make them sound as
good as possible.  I try to tune all of them to a440.  Only two have
refused so far.  I probably give away my services, but I do not know what
others charge.  I take my money and go home happy.  A pitch raise is $75
which includes two visits.  The first visit is $45 with the balance due
within two months of the second visit.  Else it is a full tuning fee.  I
get no complaints and a lot of appreciation.  My six + hour pitch raises
have been cut to 3 and four hours since I bought my Accu-tuner.  I often go
through the piano 3 and four times.  The treble above the break is my most
resistant area.

Broken wires.  I do not get many.  I believe the reason is that on
questionable pianos I always tune down before I tune up if the strings have
any rust on them at all.  When I first tried restring. I had the same woes
as you.   Then I looked in a catalog and saw how they did it and said I can
make a string winder.  I took a 10 inch board by 1 by 1 1/2.   I bored a
size 3 pin hole and a size 6 pin hole - one at each end.  Then beside the
hole, bore on each side a hole big enough to drive in a large flange pin
and out enough to accomodate the diameter of the largest wire.  If you do
not have flange pins use coat hanger wire or nails with the heads cut off.
Tilt them in towards the hole just a few degrees.

I read where one person recommended taking out the tuning pin after you
took the wire out of it.  Insert the pin in the new string winder. Measure
the wire to the pins and around the hitch pin plus the approx. three inches
for each pin excess length.  Place the wire behind the bridges and down
onto the hitch pin.  Insert the string into the pin hole after you have
bent a 90 degree angle into the wire.  Use your hammer or some device to
wind one and a half turns onto the pin.  Take the pin out of the board and
pound the pin into the pin block.  I have always put the same pin into the
same hole with no adverse results, unless the pin was already too loose to
begin with.  Then use a size or two larger according to need.

For the rest of you readers.  I am gradually gaining respect and better
pianos.  I probably got what I deserved at first.  But I am glad for what I
get.  When I can put all these junkers back into service, and know why what
I did works, I'll be able to work on the best of them.

The comments on this list are invaluable to me.  Even the most detailed of
discussions I find intriguing.  I extend deep gratitude to those who make
this list available.

Steve Haasch
wllj40a@prodigy.com