string tying

[Farrell]

"> >If 2 strings of differing widths were brought up to the same pitch,
wouldn't
> >the thinner one reach the pitch with less tension?????? Therefore, I
reason
> >that a thinner add-on is less likely to break than a thicker piece.
Please
> >explain if this reasoning is wrong."

Howard: If I may expand a bit on Susan's response. Let's assume the original
string at its proper pitch had a tension of 160 lbs. It breaks near the
tuning pin. Tie a short new string section onto the remaining big chunk of
original string. The knot will lie between the agraffe/capo and the tuning
pin (right?). Pull string back up to tension. To get to the same pitch, the
original portion of the string will need to be at 160 lbs. The new tied on
repair piece will also be at 160 lbs. (If you hang 160 lbs. from numerous
sized wires all tied together, each will still have 160 lbs. of tension on
it.)

Your theory would work if the repair section comprised the entire speaking
length (in that case, you are pretty close to replacing the whole string!),
but then one has certainly changed the piano scaling in a radical, and
likely unfavorable way.

I trust the knot is not within the speaking length. In that case, at
whatever tension one placed upon the string(s) you just might have a bit of
a false beat with a distinct frequencies being produced by each string
piece.

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Kline" <sckline@home.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Cc: <hsrosen@gate.net>
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2000 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: string tying


> Howard, it seems to me that the tension of the whole string
> would be the same, automatically. The mass of the whole string
> will determine what the tension of a given pitch will be.
> Therefore, using a lower-diameter tie-on will only affect
> the tension by a small percentage, and it would affect the
> thicker part, too, by the same amount.
>
> Personally, I just use the same diameter for tie-ons. Why go
> larger or smaller? If the broken string has a diameter in between
> standard sizes, I don't think that the small difference of
> going up or down 1/4 size, or whatever, would be enough to
> matter.
>
> Susan
>
> At 01:21 PM 09/15/2000 -0400, you wrote:
> >Friends,
> >
> >I've read several times that it is safer to use a thicker add-on when
tieing
> >a string. I wonder if anyone can explain the reasoning behind this
thought.
> >I am puzzled because I have always done just the opposite and have never
had
> >a failure (once the knot was tied and the string was brought up to
pitch).
> >
> >If 2 strings of differing widths were brought up to the same pitch,
wouldn't
> >the thinner one reach the pitch with less tension?????? Therefore, I
reason
> >that a thinner add-on is less likely to break than a thicker piece.
Please
> >explain if this reasoning is wrong.
> >
> >Please send duplicate responses to me personally as I am not currently
> >subscribed to this list. Many thanks.
> >
> >
> >Howard S. Rosen, RPT
> >Boynton Beach, Florida
> >hsrosen@gate.net
>
>