<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Just a brief yes on newish (last ten years) U-1s breaking more than their share of bass strings. I don't have them at UNM (no extraordinary breakage problem on our stock from 70s through 80s), but at NM Tech, which barely has a music program, their two U-1s of within five years old have lost maybe 8 strings each so far. I replace maybe 4 - 5 bass strings a year on my stock of maybe 50 uprights at UNM, from 1 - 45 years old. That comparison I find rather telling. I'd send data to Arledge - order a set following his procedure - tell him what the problem is, and get his take.<div><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; 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; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Regards,</div><div>Fred Sturm</div><div>University of New Mexico</div><div><a href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</a></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br><div><div>On May 18, 2008, at 6:18 PM, Ben Treuhaft wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div> <font face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size:12.0px">dear Collegiate and Universitarianistic tuners, here at New York University we have about 50 newish u1s, none over 10 yrs old and most younger than 5.  They break bass stgs. Yamaha claims that happens with every other make of upright in a music school setting.  I do not believe them.  Most of our u1s have over 1/2 dozen missing or replaced bass strings (treble never  break).  Questions:<br> 1) has anyone else come across this problem on U1s?  Is it truly a universal university problem for other makes e.g. Steinway K?<br> 2) is there a fix, e.g. get Mapes to produce a set of lower-tension strings, and replace them all?  What would one say to Mapes?    thanks,    Ben<br>    or failing all that, how about a recommendation of an affordable upright that doesn</span></font><span style="font-size:12.0px"><font face="Helvetica, Verdana, Arial">’</font><font face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">t break all the bass strings<br> </font><font face="Comic Sans MS, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><b>Benjamin Treuhaft<br> </b></font><font face="Geneva, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">.ทด&hibar;`ท.ธธ.><(((((บ><br> </font><font face="Comic Sans MS, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><b>Underwater Piano Shop<br> </b>39 E. 7th St. #3<br> New York, NY 10003<br> <b>(212) 505-3173<br> </b><font color="#2800FF"><u><a href="mailto:BLT@igc.org">BLT@igc.org</a></u></font><b><br> </b></font></span> </div> </blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>