Twisting new bass strings

[Terry Beckingham]

Hi Roger,

Actually I omitted the fact that the strings were not new in my first post.
I had the plate out of the piano to do soundboard repairs. While it was out
I had the basss strings ultrasonically cleaned. That tends to bring them
back to life. I didn't really pay attention when I removed them from the
piano, so they probably had one full twist, and as you say, probably became
set this way. The problem was not that they went dead with the twist I put
on them, it was that they had a metalic buzz. 

I have just completed repairs on another piano and I also put the bass
strings back in without a twist. There does not seem to be any adverse effect.

Regards Terry 



At 09:40 AM 6/19/98, you wrote:
>Hi Terry,
>          Your previous bass string problem was past my understanding, but
>either you omitted or I missed a very important fact. THE STRINGS WERE NOT
>NEW.
> The old string would take on a set of the previous twist, of at least a
>half turn presuming that a full twist was used in the first place.
>dependent on age. The extra twist in that case can be excessive, and cause
>the string to go dead. Most sting makers to my knowlege recommend 1/2 to a
>full twist to ensure that the winding is tight on the swage. to prevent
>buzzy strings.
> Depending on the age and tension of the string, how hard it has had to
>work. The elasticity, hence tone deminishes.
>Regards Roger
>
>
>
>
>
>
>At 10:45 PM 6/18/98 -0500, you wrote:
>>For John Woodrow:
>>
>>John,
>>
>>It had always been my understanding that bass strings should have one full
>>twist when installed. That is the way I re-installed the set on which I had
>>the problem. (They were not new strings) Unfortunately one full twist caused
>>a buzz in many of them. A colleague of mine suggested that bass strings do
>>not necessarily require a full twist. Perhaps only a half twist, or even no
>>twist was required. I decided to try no twist at all and it worked. If the
>>windings are tight to the core, there should be no buzzing even without a
>>twist. As a general rule, I put one full twist when installing bass strings.
>>I don't know why the twist caused a buzz in that particular set.
>>
>>Regards
>>
>>Terry Beckingham
>>
>>
>>At 12:31 PM 6/19/98 +1000, you wrote:
>>>List,
>>>Just finished reading Ray Hopland's and Terry Beckingham's articles on Bass
>>Strings on page 10 and 12 of the April Journal.  The thrust of both of these
>>articles is that there is no need to put any twist at the hitch pin when
>>installing new bass strings.  In fact twisting a new string proved
>>detrimental in the case of Terry's article.
>>>
>>>As the string maker that I get my bass strings from always includes a
>>little note indicating to give the strings a twist when installing, I am
>>interested in the list's opinion on this matter. 
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>John Woodrow
>>>Sydney, Australia
>>>
>>>Email:	John.Woodrow@aus.dupont.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>Roger Jolly
>Balwin Yamaha Piano Centres.
>Saskatoon/Regina.
>Canada.
>
>