String Breakage - knots, universals or new

[Carl Root]

Ron Nossaman wrote:
> When you replace a string, no matter who you talk to about it before the
> fact, you will eventually hear all about how your "fix" didn't "hold" worth
> a damn, and WHY NOT . . . . .

So put a mute on it.

I have two regular clients that need a new string fairly often.  One is
a gospel church, and yes, how often a string needs replacing depends on
who's playing.  I order a new string, replace it next time, and put a
custom felt mute with a small notch on either side so it won't fall
out.  Rub the new string out and tune it about a half step sharp.  Next
time, tune it about two beats sharp and you're OK from then on.   No,
this won't work for singles, but this is not that severe an
environment.  (Had one piano some time ago that needed fourteen new bass
strings!) 

My other client is a teacher who sits to the right of her students and
plays everything two octaves up!  The cause of breakage in the top
octave is the same as in a gospel church - undamped string energy.  (A
great way to demonstrate this is to take a coat hanger and work it back
and forth - feel the heat buildup - then it breaks).  I replace on
average one string per visit.  Stretch, tune sharp, and mute.  Having
only one string out of three available to play on doesn't cause her to
overcompensate and break the remaining one, which surprises me. 

I like knots, especially on old pianos where tonal consistency, along
with short term stability, is the best argument for tying rather than
replacing.   Remember the PTJ photo back when Yat Lam Hong was tech ed
that had a photo with at least a half dozen knots in one piano? 
Speaking length, behind the capo, behind the bridge . . . .  you name
it.  I think most of us saw it as a work of art, although maybe it was
overkill to prove a point. 

I have not used a universal in a long time.  Sorry, lads.

Carl Root, RPT
Rockville, MD