Pianist breaking many strings

[David Love]

While there probably isn't much you can do for all the reasons cited you can
reduce the maximum achievable force by increasing the let-off (but only
slightly as it will impact pianissimo playing too much), shortening the blow
distance and reducing the dip.  Since the hammers on these pianos are also
quite hard you need to make sure that the hammers are properly voiced which
means needling the shoulders to create some give (as opposed to just
softening the strike point.  The former will create a more flexible hammer,
the later will just create a softer tone but not a more flexible hammer
which will result in the pianist trying to play harder and in the process
breaking even more strings.  If you could talk him into changing hammers to
something a bit kinder and gentler that might also help. 

And if that fails you could always charge him $100 per broken string.  That
might inspire him--of course, it might also inspire him to get another tech.


David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com