Capo Bar

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Matthew:

If this piano is being played by a budding Concert Artist or is in a very
lively church, I suspect that the problem is with the player or players
and not with the piano. In these types of situations I have seen over 
the years the same results with every brand of piano including Steinways,
Baldwins, Yamahas, Kawais, Kimballs etc.

In my 15 years at the University, I became the string knot tying champion.
Every week there were several strings to be repaired. Yes, you can soften
the hammers, increase the let-off etc., but when people put the lid down
so they have somewhere to place their books, and then play a small grand
to try to make it sound like a concert grand, breakage is inevitable. The
thing that bugged me the most was when they would play the piano in this
manner and then be holding the shift pedal down all the time (this 
increases the incidence of string breakage) just to have mercy on their
ears.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Fri, 12 Nov 1999, George Todd wrote:

> Greetings!
> 
> In the five years of this Mason & Hamlin grand, all of the 50+ strings =
> have broken in the area where they pass under the capo bar.  Not one =
> string has broken in the mid treble range, and only a few in the bass =
> (which I can understand).  All of the hammers were reshaped and voiced a =
> few months back, and a string has broken.  Do you think the capo bar is =
> too sharp?
> 
> 
> Matthew
>