Enlivening bass strings

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Richard,
First if only a few strings are dead, first lower string and pound with your heavy test blow about 20 times. If they brighten up, this will show that it is not the bridge assembly and the strings need to be replaced. Unless they come back, so that the customer is happy with the sound. You could also involve the customer in having them listen to the change of the strings sound, by listening to the change as you work.

If all the strings are dead, it may be that the bridge assembly has become unglued from the board.
If you drop the tension on all bass strings to REAL loose, you can check the glue joint by pulling on the strings.
If the bridge assembly does not seperate from the board, no repair is needed.

Start on the highest bass string and pound about 20 times on each unison with your best test blow force, then tune to the octave plus a little sharp.
.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Richard Morgan 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 6:07 AM
  Subject: Enlivening bass strings


  I encountered a nice, very well-taken-care-of Remington upright last week.  The owner had the original bill of sale and loan papers showing payments, from 1920 or 1924 (can't remember now), when it was bought new in Nebraska.  It had not been tuned in 6 years or so, but had obviously been well-maintained before that--pitch was right at A=440, and it was easy to tune.

  The bass stings, however, were dead.  Can someone point me to a resource for dealing with those strings?  It's not really a candidate yet for restringing, and I don't know that the customer would spring for that.

  Thanks,
  Richard Morgan


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