Piano Firing Missiles at Church Congregation

[David Ilvedson]

Until the problem is solved I would suggest a strip of duct tape over 
the hitchpins.  Yes, it might leave a bit of residue...

David I.

On 27 Jan 2001, at 20:10, jolly roger wrote:

> Hi Bill,
>            The problem is probably the player riding the damper pedal,
>            which
> you have little chance of correcting.  Suggesting that it's her
> playing will only inflame her. Get Al Sanderson, Danny at GC Strings
> to rescale to cope with the problem. restring the bass. YC Strings are
> nothing to write home about, so it would significantly improve the
> piano. When you restring carefull inspect both the state of the bridge
> pins and the notching. Roger
> 
> 
> At 12:12 PM 1/27/01 -0500, you wrote: 
> >
> > List, 
> >
> > Yes, it's true and I need some opinions on what to do about it.  It
> > is a Young Chang Grand model G-185, only a few years old.  It is
> > meticulously cared for but early in it's service, the pianist at
> > this, shall we say, "spirit filled" church complained of bass
> > strings breaking and shooting out of the piano. 
> >
> > I have tried all of the usual.  I filed the hammers.  A monitor
> > feeds back sound to the pianist.  When I explained to the church
> > directors that it is the "vigorous" style of playing that sometimes
> > causes strings to break, the pianist resigned.  Things were OK for a
> > while but now there is a young lady who is firing scuds at the
> > congregation faster than I can get there to collect them, get them
> > duplicated and replace them. 
> >
> > She is quite upset and beside herself.  She refuses to believe that
> > it is
> the
> >
> > *way* the piano is played that is causing this.  She claims that she
> > has played the piano "all her life" and has never seen or even heard
> > of this happening.  The piano has a string cover which she yanks out
> > and throws in the corner.  She also says she has never played a
> > piano with a "blanket" in it and just "couldn't" play with it in
> > there.  I have firmly insisted
> that at
> >
> > this point, it is a matter of public safety and won't have any
> > effect on
> the 
> > sound. 
> >
> > I am thinking that these wound strings must have particularly high
> tension.  
> >
> > Does anyone know if this is so?  Over the years I have heard of
> > other such instances that were cured by replacing the wound strings
> > with a set of lighter gauged, "happy" strings.  It would seem to me
> > that a lower tension would solve the problem but in reading the
> > recent post about "replacement strings", I am confused.  Some of
> > these strings have been breaking at the bass bridge termination
> > point rather than the agraffe.  That seems very unusual to me. 
> >
> > Should the manufacturer supply a new set of wound strings and if so,
> > should they be a set designed for lower tension?  I presume that
> > heavier gauged, higher tension strings provide a bigger, bolder
> > sound.  What effect would lower tension have?  Just as a theoretical
> > question, would tuning the instrument to a lower pitch, say 100
> > cents lower prevent this from
> happening 
> > (with the same gauge but a *new* set of strings)?  (I do not view
> > this as
> an 
> > option, just a possibility that might work in some other
> > circumstance).  (I also would not even consider altering the
> > regulation to deliberately
> produce 
> > less power). 
> >
> > It is also interesting to note that to date, only wound strings have
> broken, 
> > no plain wire. 
> >
> > Bill Bremmer RPT 
> > Madison, Wisconsin 
> 
> 
> 
> 


David Ilvedson, RPT