Verdigris on Bass Strings & Hammer Heads

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Conrad,
And the reshaping or filing of hammers.
If the piano were mine to try and there was the understanding that what we
are about to try was experimental I would use Goose Juice to clean the
strings, using a white Scotch Pad ( the finest ) and reshape the hammers so
that there is minimal re-contamination. The best route however IMHO, would
be to replace both hammers and strings.
Something in the air or in the felt has caused a chemical reaction with the
copper.
On some local farms near here there is so much sulfur in the water, so that
if the house is air tight, the strings turn black at the strike point.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Conrad Hoffsommer" <hoffsoco at luther.edu>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 10:48 AM
Subject: Re: Verdigris on Bass Strings & Hammer Heads


> At 12:21 PM 5/31/2006 -0400, you wrote:
> >List.  What cleaner works best on removing verdigris from bass strings
> >(grand), at the strike point,
> >and the crud is also on the hammer heads.  I looked through all my filed
> >list discussions on the
> >subject and could not find "for bass strings".  Don't want to ruin the
> >copper.
> >Did find suggestions on using brake cleaner and starter fluid, but would
> >appreciate a sure thing
> >on this question.
> >Many thanks up-front.
> >Gordon Holley
>
>
> I hate to be flippant, but the only SURE thing is replacement.  You may
get
> lucky with some sort of better living through chemistry, but I know that
> _MY_ kind of luck would produce dead strings which would need replacing
> anyway...
>
>
>
>
> Conrad Hoffsommer - Keyboard Technician
> Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045
> 1-(563)-387-1204 // Fax 1-(563)-387-1076
>
> - Right now, I'm hoping to live until my age matches my golf score,
> - Until then, I'll have to be content to have my IQ match my handicap.
>