has anyone ever tried this?

[Farrell]

I'm surprised this thread has had this much life! If one feels the need to 
have pre-stretched strings, I'm quite sure it could be accomplished with a 
simple jig. Cut an appropriate length (just a bit longer than you want your 
string) of 2x4 (or hardwood - but I think Homerwood would work), epoxy/dowel 
a square-ish hunk of pinblock (or just any old hunk of maple or other good 
hardwood) to each end, drill and pound a hitch pin into one hardwood end and 
a tuning pin into the other. Put a string on there and pull it up to, or 
just shy of, your target pitch - your string on the stretcher is a bit 
longer than it will be on the piano, so at your target pitch, it will be 
under a little bit more tension than it will experience on the piano (I hope 
I have that right).

If you keep the string down close to the 2x4, I wouldn't think you'd have 
any trouble with the 2x4 folding up in half or anything. Leave it on there a 
few days and you gots yourself a stretched string. Just cut it off the jig 
and you have your pre-stretched string with a hitch bend already on it.

Yes?

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
> Yes, I have heard tell of people experimenting with hanging weights from 
> the end of piano wire in an attempt to get them pre-stretched. I am not 
> privy to the details, but I would guess that the weight used was around 
> the amount of tension the string would be under when at pitch. I would 
> further guess that the bends are so important in achieving stability that 
> this approached was dropped. But I just don't know. Why don't you try it 
> and report back to the list?
>
> Alan Eder
>
> -----Original Message-----
> I still can't believe that someone has not discovered a way to 
> "pre-stretch"
> a new bass string. Maybe something like hanging a weight on the end 
> without
> the loop?
>
> Brian P. Doepke, (dep-kee)