<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol=
e_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 2/13/2006 3:57:14 PM Central Standard Time,
jtanner@mozart.sc.edu writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=
=2>Our
heavy handed pianist's 10-year-old B has experienced over an <BR>oct=
ave
of broken strings in the 6th and into the 7th octaves. All of
<BR>the wire from C#6 to C#7 has been replaced at least once. None
of <BR>our other ten Bs, all purchased the same year, have had even
one <BR>broken string, and yes, all but one are in piano faculty
studios. </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Jeff</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wonder, as one the others commented, if the problem is with the hamme=
rs.
Strings break because the pianist hits the keys too hard, to try to get more=
sound to come out of the notes. I would like to recommend you juice up the
hammers in the 6th and 7th octaves. Use a dropper and put some acetone and
thinner on the crown, and let it dry for about 15 minutes. Lightly sand the =
tops
of the hammers to get the crust off, and gently needle some of the irritatin=
g
hammers. Do it a little at a time, and ask the pianist her opinion. </=
DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What might sound bright to you might not sound bright to her. I just di=
d
this on one of the D's on stage. I thought it sounded bright already. but we=
just had Stephen Hough here for a concert last night, and he said the piano
wasn't bright enough in the top three octaves. So I juiced the upper th=
ree
octaves, and the piano does sound better now. It's amazing how much mor=
e
power comes out with just a little of juicing. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wim.</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>