Whenever possible, I prefer to keep the entire piano close to tension during the whole procedure of removal and replacement. I do this by removing 5 or 6 old strings at a time, replacing them and bringing them up to tension before moving on to the next group. It takes no longer than replacing them as a set. The result is that minimal tuning is needed when you're done. Having said that, in the case of obsolete pianos (no pun intended) where I sent in the old strings for duplication, I have left the rest of the strings at tension with no apparent ill effects. In those cases, I consider it more important not to disturb the tension on plain strings which have been tuned many times and which have molded to the bearing points. Otherwise, a lot more tuning is required, you tend to get a lot more false beats in the old strings ,and you may weaken the old strings in the process. Paul S. Larudee, RPT Richmond, CA
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