[CAUT] Steinway B breaking strings

[Nichols]

Jeff, et al,
    Of course it's the pianist. But, it wouldn't hurt to check the strike 
line, also. I agree with Don about a relatively sharp capo. They seem to 
break fewer strings. I have found, though, that the strike line can be too 
far away from the capo without a real noticeable difference of tone. 
Especially with instruments that are a little "tired" anyway. Or, it may 
have been a little farther out when there was more meat on the hammer, and 
now they are over-centering a little and it's too close. Either way, I've 
noticed that a "non-optimal" strike line can affect breakage frequency. 
(Usually on Y or Ks, though).


Good luck,
Guy

At 02:57 PM 2/13/2006 -0800, you wrote:
>Jeff,
>
>Yes, of course, it most certainly MUST be the piano's fault.  But wait,
>then again, it might be the piano TUNER's fault! - - - Pianists who,
>rather than getting a degree in making music, instead get a black belt
>in piano, cannot possibly be to blame for destroying their instruments.
>
>Others disagree with me, but I do not believe that the capo bar leads to
>string breakage unless the capo material is extremely hard and has a
>very broad V shape.  I am not sure if 10 years ago Steinway was heat
>hardening the capos, but even if they were the capo material should
>still be quite a bit softer than the music wire.  If the capo has a
>sharper V, the wire tends to settle into the iron a little and make a
>saddle, which in my (unproven) opinion is actually better for the wire
>than a broad V bar shape.  The large cross section can lead to
>flattening of the wire.
>
>String lengths do vary a bit in Steinway pianos, so it would be easy to
>make a sample measurement on this piano and compare it to the other Bs.
>If the strings are substantially longer on the 'problem' piano, then one
>could argue that this added tension might be contributing.  At least a
>little.
>
>Changing all of the affected wire is also very good idea - reshaping the
>hammers alone without replacing the old wire will not do much, as you
>discovered.  Replace all of the affected wire, shape the hammers again,
>touch up the regulation and voicing, and the breakage will stop for a
>while.  If you then make it a habit of shaping the hammers lightly every
>3 months or so, I think the number of broken strings per week ;-) should
>drop to more reasonable levels.
>
>I once did this on a Baldwin SD-10 which had a pianist preparing for
>competitions and such, and string breakage changed from a weekly event
>to one every 2 or 3 months or so.  Much more manageable.
>
>Changing pianos is an excellent idea.  The conclusion for the pianist
>will be inescapable - it MUST be the piano tuner's fault!   No, really,
>having this happen on another piano will make your persuasion that much
>easier.
>
>Try not to let this become a fighting issue - do your best to be
>persistent and gentle and educate the pianist.  You can be sure that she
>has had this problem before, and with sufficient tact you should be able
>to get her to understand that with her incredible technique and ability
>to produce a big tone, she simply has to expect that additional service
>is going to be needed on her piano, and you will do your best to keep up
>with it.
>
>Don Mannino RPT
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On
> > Behalf Of Jeff Tanner
> > Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 12:20 PM
> > To: College and University Technicians
> > Subject: [CAUT] Steinway B breaking strings
> >
> >
> > Ok, so I'm bringing this back up again.
> >
> > Our heavy handed pianist's 10-year-old B has experienced over an
> > octave of broken strings in the 6th and into the 7th octaves.
> >  All of
> > the wire from C#6 to C#7 has been replaced at least once.  None of
> > our other ten Bs, all purchased the same year, have had even one
> > broken string, and yes, all but one are in piano faculty studios.
> > The other 8 Bs we have from the late 60s to mid 70s all still have
> > mostly original wire in that area.  There were no broken strings on
> > this piano until about a year or a little more after this
> > professor's
> > arrival.  In fact, I've probably replaced as many or more strings on
> > her piano alone than on the other 51 grands over the last two
> > years.
> > Now that we are beginning to replace these same strings a SECOND
> > time, she wants me to find a way to blame the piano.
> >
> > Apparently one of her students from Utah told her that a technician
> > out there blamed broken strings on a sharp capo.  This one feels no
> > sharper than any of the others we have, but I don't know how I'd go
> > about measuring that spec to know if that's really the problem.  Her
> > claim is that since the string is breaking at the capo....
> >
> > (yeah, I know, but anything to keep from blaming the player)
> >
> > Hammer grooves are no better or worse than any other piano.  I even
> > filed them one time to see if that would help and it has not.
> >
> > We are going to swap the pianos in her studio to see how the
> > up until
> > now less played piano behaves.
> >
> > But in the meantime, do you suggest I let down the tension and
> > "shoeshine" the capo to see if that helps?  Any other suggestions?
> >
> > I realize piano technicians know nothing of piano technique, and all
> > the foremost authorities of string breakage are PERFORMING ARTISTS
> > and not technicians, physicists or engineers.  But at what point can
> > we say that fortissimo is pushing the machine past its design
> > limitations?
> >
> > Thanks.  I'm off to change two more strings in her studio.  And no,
> > this piano is never in tune anymore.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> >
> >
> > Jeff Tanner, RPT
> > University of South Carolina
> >
> >
> >
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