How to avoid breaking a string...

[Avery Todd]

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And how much DOES he charge? I haven't seen it posted!

Avery

At 04:51 PM 12/3/04, you wrote:
>"occasionally strings break, but I carry spares and they are easy to 
>replace."
>
>"Then why do you charge so much to replace them", the piano owner asks.....
>
>Terry Farrell
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:mkurta@adelphia.net>Mike Kurta
>To: <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org>Pianotech
>Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 3:23 PM
>Subject: Re: How to avoid breaking a string...
>
>     I have tuned many pianos several semitones flat by overpulling way 
> above pitch in one pass without breakage.  We've all seen older uprights 
> that were nothing but a ball of rust, and no breakage.  It also happens 
> that fairly new instruments will break a string by barely moving the pin.
>     Every piano I junk, I tighten each string to the breaking point just 
> to see what it takes to make it fail.  Often the pin rotates 1/2 turn 
> before the string lets go.  On other occasions (sometimes within the same 
> piano) just touching the string will make it snap.
>     My conclusion is that there is no rhyme or reason and no predicting 
> string breakage.  I also believe there is no cure-all method to avoid 
> string breakage.  I've tried letting down tension first, lubrication of 
> various types, hammer technique, etc, and they still may let 
> go.  Fortunately, it doesn't happen that often, and if in doubt, I 
> mention to the customer that "occasionally strings break, but I carry 
> spares and they are easy to replace."  This opens the possibility to the 
> customer, but minimizes the seriousness.
>     Mike Kurta
>     Auburn, NY

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