[pianotech] hammers or strings?

[Paul Milesi]

Lee:  I second Mark Dierauf¹s suggestion of taking a good look at let-off.
I tune in a lot of jazz clubs, where there are aggressive players, and the
solution to string breakage is often to set let-off a little further from
the string than I personally like as a pianist and technician.  Just a
little.  This was suggested to me by Wendell Eaton, RPT, a friend and mentor
and highly experienced technician who is a past-president of the Guild.  As
he explained it to me, if let-off is extremely close, during rapid forte
playing, sometimes the jack will still be under the knuckle and force the
hammer up into the string plane, popping out strings.  Blame me, not
Wendell, if I don¹t have that explanation exactly right!  :)  In any event,
this approach works for me in lots of situations, and I think about it every
time I do any regulation on a jazz club piano.  Not sure aftertouch has much
to do with it.

Paul Milesi, RPT
Washington, DC
(202) 667-3136
E-mail:  paul at pmpiano.com
Website:  http://www.pmpiano.com



From: Mark Dierauf <pianotech at nhpianos.com>
Reply-To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:05:07 -0500
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] hammers or strings?

Lee -

This may not help in your case, and in any case you've probably already
addressed it, but FWIW I've seen a few string breakers where let-off was
close with minimal or no aftertouch and once this was addressed string
breakage ceased completely.

- Mark

Lee Morton wrote: 
> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">       I have a
> customer with 5 grands and he is a stringbreaker.  Most of his grands have
> suffered from 1-4 broken strings,
> but the current problem is a Model B (1982) which is shedding strings in
> bunches....all in the upper 2 treble areas.  This
> piano has its original lacquered hammers, moderately cut, and now it's second
> set of treble strings.  I did not  put the replacement
> strings on it so I do not know their origin.  I always use Roslau and rarely
> in my 42 years of piano servicing have I had any
> string breakage.  Certainly not to this extent.
>  
>      The question I face is this:  The underside of the capo bar is, in my
> opinion, too sharp a profile.  (The strings are all being
> chopped off at the bar.)  Should I propose stripping the piano down to the
> agraffes, dressing the underbar with emory paper
> to a more gentle curve, and restringing the top 2 sections with Roslau.  Or
> replace the hammers with new hammers, properly
> shaped and properly voiced.  Or both?
>                  
> Lee Morton 
>                  
> lee at leemortonpianos.com
>  
>  
> </div> 
>  

-- 
It is no use telling me there are bad aunts and good aunts. At the core,
they are all alike. Sooner or later, out pops the cloven hoof.

-- P. G. Wodehouse 


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