Strings and such

[Susan Kline]

At 06:28 PM 8/25/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello ya'll
>
>speaking of strings.  I am a budding piano tooner/tech and I am at a loss
>as to how to replace a string in the treble section of an old upright.
>This particular string runs under the bass strings and I have already
>banged up my fingers and knuckles trying to figure out how to get the
>string looped around the "hitch" at the bottom.  
>this is no fun.  Any ideas?
>
>Thanks
>patrick


Hi, Patrick

Here are two approaches which might be a little easier. 

First I take a piece of wire which I know is longer than I need, and I bend
it in half. I put both ends under the pressure bar (sending them along an
umbrella rib in a handle helps get them under the bar) and I pull some
slack up into the tuning pin area. Then:

1. Take a section of a newpaper, and fold it over the doubled string.
Insert the whole thing into the space between the treble and bass strings,
from the top, and work it down until you can snag the bend and put it over
the hitch pin. A stringing hook helps to snag the bend and move it around.
The paper keeps the wire from dodging through the bass strings and/or
snagging on the bridge pins.

or

2. Get the gadget from Pianotek (800-347-3954). It's called The Stringer,
and is a telescoping tube with various refinements for handling the wire.
"Easy instructions", too.

Once the bend is over the hitch pin, it can be secured either with small
needle-nosed vise grips or with a small spring clamp. Once it is secured,
you can use a stringing hook, your battered fingers, and/or screwdrivers to
get the wire through the bridge pins. 

Then you can go to the top end, and tug on one and then the other end to be
sure the wire isn't twisted around itself. Pull hard, cut to length, then
make a coil on a dummy pin and move it over to the regular tuning pin;
repeat for the other side; space the wire, press in the beckets as you pull
up the new string, pull up and tap down the coils, etc. Don't forget to
turn out the old pins (beforehand) enough that they won't end up further
into the pinblock than the rest when you've tightened the new wire.
Ideally, the new coil should look just as good as the factory stringing (on
a good piano) or better (on junk.)

Then tap the bend down onto the plate at the hitch pin, squeeze the
backlengths above the hitch pin until they doesn't bow out any more, and
don't forget to take off your vise grips or spring clamp. 

Good luck. Patience, practice, and the determination to get it right will
win out in the end. 

Susan

 
Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com