dented piano wire

[A440A@AOL.COM]

Lance writes:
 In the lower treble section of the piano a previous tech had tapped the 
speaking length>of the treble wire with something near the bridge pins, so 
that just before
>the bridge pins on the speaking lenght the strings were kinked or dented.
 <snip>
>Does anyone have any other suggestions short of restringing this piano?
 
  Greetings, 
   The first thing to do is to make sure you have the right target, so i 
suggest that you restring a pair of obviously bad notes.  (When I do this, I 
look closely at all the bearing points, and make sure the bridge pins are 
tight.  If the notching has "moved" out in front of the bridge pins, I pull 
them and take a very clean chisel cut across the centers of the pin holes.  
Do all the labor intensive stuff like settling the strings and coils over 
proper V-bars, and stress relieving all the bends in the wire, starting from 
the hitch pin at + 25 cents, etc.   Tune them as close as possible 
    If this gives you two magically clear notes, with good sustain and that  
invigorating shiver we all get when we hear a note with "NOTHING WRONG" in 
it, invite the owners to watch you do it again, and then sell them a whole 
new set of strings, with fine chisel cuts and new bridge pins as part of your 
work.  A sonic makeover for their concert piano.  Heck, insurance may assist 
if this is to correct damage that is over and above normal wear and tear.    
   If the sample strings don't help,  you will be glad that you avoided 
standing in front of a freshly strung concert piano that has the same 
problems as before. 
Regards,
Ed Foote