<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Mar 25, 2006, at 1:01 AM, Jeff Olson wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; ">I've broken a lot of grand piano bass strings -- always the string and/or piano's fault, I assure you! -- and must confess to never having observed them flying free of the piano. I remember one snapping back in my general direction once when the hitch loop snapped, but it never quite made it to my face, strinking (I think) the top of the partly opened lid before that.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"></FONT> </DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; ">On the theory that confession's good for the soul, I suppose I should also admit that I have trouble visualizing a bass string flying free in the manner that seems to hold such terror on this list. Seems like there's a fair number of obstacles to doing that, and I'm not sure that a bass string possesses the kind of mass/elastic energy -- or whatever physics/technical term applies -- to achieve such flight in any case.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"></FONT> </DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; ">But as someone who humbly bows before simple empirical fact, at least when one slaps me in the face, I would certainly defer to those who've personally witnessed a bass string take majestic flight from a grand piano. Any chance someone here might describe such an event? (I've got an old grand I'm seriously considering popping some strings on for experimental purposes.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"></FONT> </DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; ">Best,</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"></FONT> </DIV><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; ">Jeff</SPAN></FONT></DIV></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>I wasn't there when it happened, but I replaced the bass string (G23, right unison), which during the church song service, flung itself out of the tail end of the piano, narrowly missing the minister standing on the platform, oh, 15 to 20 feet away. And that was at 440. The piano -- a Baldwin R of similar vintage as the M Eric is using.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Jeff Tanner</DIV></BODY></HTML>