Rendering, et al

[harvey]

I hope y'all work this thing out, because this inquiring mind wants to know!

I have the agraffe bit and the round abrasive cord, etc. However, I also
have the same problem Ron's describing on a NEW, large, famous piano. I
won't mention any names, but will simply state that the initials are
Steinway & Sons.

So, where do I go from here? I'm caught between S&S, the dealer, and the
owner, considering the age of the unit. I don't really consider this a
warranty matter, rather a tuning nuisance. Since this is a performance
instrument, needless to say the nuisance factor comes up quite often!

Specific symptoms: for testing purposes, if an offending string is pulled
slowly (non-impact method), there will be a slight grating sound, like a
miniature fine-toothed ratchet wrench. This should not be confused with a
ratcheting tuning pin. I suppose the sound could be equated to slowly
dragging one's fingernail longitudinally across a bichord winding... tic,
tic, tic. I've heard this sound before, and frankly never liked it -- like
something wasn't rendering correctly. A few times in the past (other
pianos), this sound was at some point accompanied by a broken string --
indeed proving that something wasn't quite right. Then, there's the "ping"
at some point. Of course, that point is exactly where that pin/string needs
to be to be in tune and properly rendered. Why is that always the case?
Regardless, I cannot assure that I'm leaving the pin/string in a rendered
state.

The condition is global to the entire piano, but local to certain
individual pins/strings. Although I haven't had a lot of 'quality' time
with the instrument, I have noticed that it could use some serious string
leveling. Whether this will help matters (bass too?) I don't know. I'm also
reluctant to start "swapping ends" around the hitch at this point. The
piano is used too much to destabilize it that much. Besides, can't do that
with bass strings.

Two things for sure -- I'm not looking forward to spending the remainder of
my career fighting those pinging strings; and, because of being in the
middle (politically), I'm not exactly in a position to pull/check/replace
agraffes, strings or whatever.

Need more input!