The boys are just having a bit of fun with you James. The request seems simple enough but there are some considerations that an experienced technician may be helpful with. You might even have trouble finding a supplier who will sell you strings without an account. Depending on the type of piano and the age, the source for the strings can vary. Is it a wound string or a plain wire string? If it's a plain wire string then that complicates the instructions at this level. If it's a would string you may have to send it off to be duplicated. Even then, often the replacement string doesn't match the remaining string exactly so that tuning them together can be a problem. Sometimes it is better to replace both strings in a bichord if one of them breaks. There are techniques for prewinding the coil with a minimum of turnout on the old pin to keep it tight. You will need some special tools to tighten the coil to insure tuning stability. The string may need to be twisted slightly to get it to come to life. With all these considerations and with the problem of providing the most basic instructions including tool acquisition, I think it is the consensus that an experienced technician would be best for this particular task. The rest is just trade humor. I hope you're not offended. David Love ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Gammon" <jtg5f@cms.mail.virginia.edu> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: August 06, 2002 9:56 PM Subject: Re: Broken String Did I miss something? Is this request unusually outlandish? Did I somehow indicate that I wanted the string pre-tuned, or even thought that such a thing was possible? I just happen to be a guy who likes to fiddle with stuff, and wouldn't mind the experience of putting the new string in myself. My understanding is that a new string costs around $10, so unless this understanding is wrong, it's worth breaking another one (or two) to a tinkerer like myself to have the experience of re-stringing it. I know how to tune it to a unison with the other E3 string. Perhaps I stand to do serious damage to the piano somehow? If this is the case, by all means, I'll have a registered technician do it. Confusedly, jame
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