Alan, ALL the strings were pounded in like this?? Or just a few? If just a few, pull them and repin w/oversize pins and new wire. If it's all of them, presumably the pinblock is not so great, so yeah, good question. I guess when it comes down to it, I try to opt for suggesting a repair that doesn't leave me looking as bad as that "Bozo" who was there first. If you chip out the bushings to give you space, and the tuning fails quickly, I can see the client calling another tech, who will then look at the previous tech's butchering.......... Make a good repair, charge appropriately. If that is not an option, get them to buy a new piano, tell them the truth, the piano is no more. BTW, I think that guy visited here. I had one last week (only one pin, thankfully) Where the pin was apparently pounded in first, then a new wire installed. Since there was no room between the becket and the plate, the new coils were simply placed overlapping, criss-crossing every which way, out toward the tip of the pin. Remarkable work. Best of Luck, William R. Monroe > Why broken strings. Didn't notice at first but when two more popped, I inspected further: Some Bozo -- probably the same Bozo had pounded in the pins so that the coils were cushed against the pin bushings! > > Options: > > 1. Proper repair. Forget it, strings couldn't take it, couldn't charge enough to make it worth my while. > > 2. Restring. Let's be serious. > > 3. Tune the piano flat. But how flat? 25 Cents? > > 4. Use dremmel with small half-round burr to ream out a channel on one or both sides of the bushing, then dig the remains out with a little pick? Never heard of doing that, but it sounded good when my desparate mind thought of it -- right after thinking about becoming a Wal-mart greeter.
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