String breakage

[Delwin D Fandrich]

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----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Lance Lafargue" <lancelafargue@bellsouth.net>
To: "Caut (E-mail)" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: February 20, 2003 6:24 AM
Subject: String breakage


> Hi,
> I'd like some feedback on everyone's experience with piano wire =
life/string
> breakage and the need to restring pianos.  I have a University with =
several
> Steinway and a few Baldwin D's and B's and they are breaking strings =
in the
> treble.  I actually occasionally break them myself when tuning and =
broke one
> once when I was string voicing/leveling.  They break at the V-bar. =
Many of
> these pianos are only 7-15 years old. =20


Try to not think of this phenomena in terms of years, but in terms of =
hammer blows. And not just in terms of the number of hammer blows, but =
the quality of the hammer blows.=20

Under normal playing conditions (whatever those are) a typical treble =
string will survive something on the order of 500,000 to 1,000,000 =
hammer blows without undo stress. But there are some assumptions =
attached. It assumes hammers of reasonable resilience--an increasingly =
rare characteristic these days. It assumes the hammers are not =
excessively massive--another increasingly rare condition in the modern =
piano. It assumes the hammer has a reasonably round, not flattened, =
shape. It assumes the capo tastro bar is reasonable well shaped. And it =
assumes the physical characteristics of the wire falls within the =
average strength characteristics intended by the string manufacturer. =
Some brands of piano wire stand up better than others, but the =
differences are relatively minor.=20

We are currently using Mapes International Gold wire. It has =
demonstrated somewhat better tensile strength and working life =
characteristics than any of the others currently available and its =
surface characteristic has a higher polish than most others--it's =
cleaner. Even within one brand of wire, however, specifications such as =
tensile strength are always averages, not absolutes. Some batches of =
wire will run high, some low. A batch of Mapes IG wire running low will =
break at lower tension than a batch of some other wire running high. If =
a batch of wire runs low, all of the pianos strung with that batch will =
be prone to string breakage some early.=20

(The acoustical qualities of all brands of piano wire are essentially =
the same--claims of audible tonal characteristics between brands of wire =
are highly suspect and unproven. Even my own.)

Assuming each note is played 100 times a day--I've not studies this but =
I shouldn't this this an abnormal number for a practice room piano--that =
gives you about 5,000 to 10,000 days of use. Assuming 250 days of use =
per year that adds up to 20 to 40 years of life for a typical string on =
a typical piano. If the pianos are used daily this comes down to 13.7 to =
27.4 years of life.

Now, maybe the hammer moldings were running a bit on the heavy side. Or =
perhaps someone put a set of (any brand--Japanese or German) =
hard-pressed hammers on the piano. Or, maybe we let the capo tastro get =
a bit grooved and rattley. Or we put a little lacquer on the hammers to =
brighten up that killer-octave everyone has been complaining about. Has =
the piano been suffering under the pounding of some up-and-coming =
technical master who has not been taught the subtleties of musicianship? =
(The size of the pianist does not seem to be much of a factor here--some =
of the worst string-breakers in my experience have been physically quite =
small. One of them a very slender young women who couldn't have been 5' =
1" or 5' 2". It's a matter of technique and having not been taught the =
joys of dynamics and subtlety. Did their pianos through the formative =
years lacked the same?)=20

As all may be, bottom line is that the string life you are experiencing =
may be quite normal given the design, the hammers, the overall condition =
of the pianos and the pianists in question. Others have indicated what =
can be done to prolong the string life of the piano. To which I can only =
add: keep the hammers well shaped, keep them light and keep them =
resilient. And resist the demands to make the pianos bright and =
powerful. And try to impress on the pounders--be they students or =
professors--that the beauty of the pianoforte lies in its subtlety not =
its absolute power output.

Del
Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Designer & Builder
Hoquiam, Washington  USA
E.mail:  pianobuilders@olynet.com
Web Site:  www.pianobuilders.com



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