Thanks for your input re. breaking strings. Appears that most of the breakeage is in the wrapped strings, but apparently there is at least one plain wire also broken. I'm a little leery about getting involved . Sounds like you may have the answer I was looking for, and it's the manner of play that's causing the breakeage. Changing to different strings would likely produce a different tone than the originals. Appreciate all the thought you put into your answer . Thanks again. Carl / Winnipeg. ----- Original Message ----- From: Delwin D Fandrich To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 12:42 AM Subject: Re: [pianotech] Fw: strings breaking/ Nordheimer Which strings are breaking? Plain steel tenor and treble strings or wrapped strings? If it is the plain steel strings then what kind of wire is used? Mapes wire is just a bit tougher than Roslau (and, probably, Chinese-made wires). If wrapped strings are breaking you might want to find out what the scaling is like. How close is the design tension to the breaking point of the core wire. Check the termination points; if it is the treble strings that are breaking what does the V-bar look like? If it is too sharp this can aggravate string stress. (This is not likely, though.) Also check the hammers; hard and/or flattened hammers will stress the strings more than softer, more resilient hammers. About technique-there are some pianists whose playing style or technique simply breaks strings. This is not how pianos were intended to be played. The instrument is a pianoforte not just a forte. If the pianist cannot get this through his/her head and correct their playing style accordingly then they should be prepared to continually replace the strings that break. It's much the same as the car driver who rides the breaks-the brake pads are going to need replacing frequently and it's not the car's fault. Or the driver who lays rubber each time he/she takes off from a stop light-tires are going to wear out faster and it's not the tire's fault. This is the price you pay for treating your car badly. Frequently replacing broken strings are the price the pianist pays for abusing his/her piano. ddf Delwin D Fandrich Piano Design & Fabrication 620 South Tower Avenue Centralia, Washington 98531 USA del at fandrichpiano.com ddfandrich at gmail.com Phone 360.736.7563 From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Carl Teplitski Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 10:01 PM To: Pianotechlist Subject: [pianotech] Fw: strings breaking/ Nordheimer ----- Original Message ----- From: Carl Teplitski Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2010 9:39 PM Subject: strings breaking/ Nordheimer Propective client called requesting info. re. replacing broken strings. Piano purchased from local dealer,( 8years ) and when client complained about broken strings, dealer replaced, and also replaced a second time. Has now told the client that they are now on their own. Apparently, the son of the client is a big fellow, and client confesses that he playes quite hard. He called me in the hopes that I would be able to solve the problem, by replacing with different type strings, thinking that the Nordhiemer replacements are breaking for the same reason the originals did. I told client that I know the dealer, and consider him an honorable fellow, and probably thinks that the problem lies with the player. Of course, I really don't know why the strings break, and have not seen the piano yet. Seeing it , doesn't mean I will have the answer. If I do get involved, I will send the broken samples to a supplier, and hope we can get appropriate replacements. Wondering how others handle a problem such as this. ??????????? Carl / Winnipeg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101118/35358ded/attachment.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC