Friends, First, thanks for your very helpful responses regarding "humidity problem - will this fix it." Second, there was some confusion about which tuning pin bushings we were talking about. When I responded I was thinking of that sleeve that goes into the hole, a part that is called a "metal tuning pin bushing" in the Schaff catalog. Others had in mind the wooden "tuning pin bushings" as Schaff refers to them, the "collar" around each tuning pin. The confusion is understandable since the names of the two parts are so close, and of course Schaff is not the final authority on the names of things, I suppose. But now I do have a two-part question about "the right way to do things," which relates to both the "wooden collar" tuning pin bushings and making the coil. I have been under the assumption that if I need to replace a string, the proper way is to make the coil and becket first, slip the coil over the tuning pin and draw it tight. This reduces the number of turns I need to make on the pin and theoretically reduces the chance of making the hole larger and reducing the torque. I almost never do this, usually opting for backing the pin out three turns and making the coil on the pin. Is this a serious no-no? I check first to see what torque I am dealing with. I use a larger tuning pin if the original is too loose. I did make the coils beforehand when I was replacing a pair of single-wound strings in a Steinway grand, since on a piano of that quality I didn't want to take the chance of making a choice that I might regret later. This worked out fine, but it took me considerably longer, since it was not the way I usually do things. Second part. On a Young Chang grand which is played heavily and needs frequent string replacements, I use my standard procedure, backing the pin out three turns. But even if I were to back the tuning pin out only one turn, the bushing moves with the pin and starts coming up out of the hole. When I tighten the pin again, will the bushing go back in the hole? Huh-uh! What do the rest of you do in a situation like this? I'm embarrassed to say I have no experience in replacing tuning pin bushings and am not even sure how to start, although I could experiment. I presume that when doing a total restringing, the bushings go in before the pins do. This is a different situation. Regards, Clyde
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