Broken Strings

[Martin, Thomas N (MARTITN5)]

Hello List,
	This is my first post - and I don't expect to be a frequent poster.
I'm a pianist and although I have read Arthur Reblitz's book and have even
fiddled around with an old upright in the past - I think I'll stick with
playing.:-)  I have a Yamaha C3 that keeps breaking strings.  I'm up to
three now.  The piano is only 7 years old and since I've been in college - 3
years hasn't seen much use at all.  A couple of years ago a bass string went
out - one from G2 I think - it almost hit me in the eye.  Then early this
year a treble string broke on me when I was practicing which I decided to
wait to have replaced because my parents were moving to Florida and (because
I couldn't find a buyer) were going to take the piano with them.  It hadn't
been tuned in 3 years - because I wasn't there to play it and my father is
always upset when something needs service - whether it is a piano or luxury
car.  It was also very hard to get a technician in the area they lived in
because there were so few pianos around - especially high quality ones.   I
had a qualified tuner/technician come to there house in Florida when I was
visiting this past June and he replaced the string, raised the pitch,
installed a dampchaser de-humidifier, and after giving me a demonstration -
softened the hammers with a solution that apparently contains fabric
softener and alcohol.  This did Improve the tone - which had become too
bright - I was always dissatisfied that I couldn't play a true ppp, but, it
wasn't in a big room either.  He said that the hammers were too hard and
that's why I was breaking strings.  Well, I wondered about this solution -
because I'd never heard about it before and I try to be an educated consumer
(he said that you couldn't needle the hammers because they would simply
break the needles they are that hard) .  To my point though - I broke
another bass string about a week after he was there (come to think of it I
wonder if it was the same one as before because, although I don't remember
for sure, they are in the same area).  My question is - is it the hammers -
is it me - I can be aggressive if I want to be.:-)  What can I do about it -
does it just need voicing or is it possible that the hammers are so hard
that new hammers are needed?   The Technician is scheduled to come back on
the Third - and I think the string is covered under Yamaha's warranty - what
about the hammers if that's the culprit?  I never did get the regulation and
free tunings that are part of the Yamaha warranty.:-(
Tom Martin

http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/villa/4107
martitn5@juniata.edu