---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: CCMAIL:Don Mannino at yca, CCMAIL:Don Mannino at yca TO: Larry T. Brannin, 74651,1154 DATE: 4/24/95 5:38 PM RE: Re: Samick Grand Bass String Breakage Part2 Hey there, I've been following the discussions about string breakage, and I'd like to offer my opinion. At Young Chang we get similar calls concerning any model, and almost always in churches. When I was tuning independently in San Diego I had a few churches which broke bass strings regularly, in different brands. I remember a Steinway L, a Yamaha P2, and a Baldwin R specifically. I never tuned many Samicks, so I don't have direct experience with this model. Bass strings rarely break from a miss-shapen Agraffe. The brass is soft enough that the string immediately compresses any sharpness in the hole; It just isn't feasible that the brass would injure the wire. An excessively sharp angle could be a problem, but this would occur mostly during tuning. Once the string is set the angle won't affect the string during use, and will not contribute to fatigue unless it is worked hard during tuning. The following are the main causes of string breakage: 1. Style of playing (not just how hard) a. Lots of damper pedal use b. Rapid repetition of notes 2. Condition of the hammers 3. Volume of the piano in relation to other instruments in the church. First, if there are _any_ string grooves in the hammer, then shape the hammers. Take a little extra off of the shoulders to give a slightly smaller strike area at the top. Don't get carried away with this - we don't want to ruin the hammers, just slightly alter the shape at the tops. The longer the string grooves become, the more stress on the string termination nearest the tuning pins. Next, adjust the damper pedal so that it just lifts the minimum amount off of the strings. Set the stop so that they clear completely, but no more than necessary. This will insure that the dampers have a chance to absorb a little more energy when the pianist is keeping time with the damper pedal. Finally, look at the other instruments in the church, and find out if the piano is being amplified. Many times the other instruments in the room are loud and the pianist cannot hear themselves play. Even though the piano may be loud enough to the congregation, the pianist is trying to get the emotional feed-back, so can really get going on the piano. The answer is a monitor speaker on the floor next to the pianist, with the piano sound coming through plenty loud enough from the pianist to hear themselves play. I have a rule of thumb regarding string breakage in emotional Gospel music style churches; If the name of the church has fewer than 4 words in it, then the first string will break after about 2 years. If there are 4 or more words in the church's name, then subtract 2 months for each word in the church name, and _that_ is when the first string will break. (BG) I don't think Samick uses Korean wire for the bass string cores - I thought their literature states that they (like Young Chang) use Rolsau steel wire, so the wire strength shouldn't be the issue. The scale design could, of course, and it's true that most Oriental pianos (and many European ones) bring the tension up pretty far in the bass, with breaking percents over 80%. A lower tension scale will help, but the tone will definitely be changed. Don Mannino, RPT
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