spinet string repairs

[Charles Neuman]

I'm curious about techniques and tools for replacing strings on spinets
without removing the action.

I recently discovered why people recommend removing the action. I could
get the string on the hitch pin, but it kept popping off, and the whole
thing took me about 45 minutes.

If I had the right tools, I think I could do it more quickly. I noticed in
one catalog there was a tool which was like a long straw, and it helped
you get the string over the hitch pin. The next thing that is needed is a
good way to clamp the string to the hitch pin and bridge pins while you're
installing the ends of the string. I could picture a really long vice grip
needle nose pliers with padded jaws. You could clamp the string in place
somehow. Or a really thick rubber band that goes around the hitch pin and
stretches over the brige pins and up to the tuning pins.  This might put
enough pressure to keep the string on the bridge pins.

Anybody have any techniques or tools to share, or is it really easier to
just remove the whole action?

Charles Neuman
PTG Assoc, Long Island