[pianotech] Weird....strings

[Susan Kline]

Could it be possible that the string of one note was getting pushed out 
of line by the tuning pin of the other, up at the top?

On 2/4/2011 7:58 PM, J. W. Stein wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> I have been tuning and repairing pianos for over 30 years and today I 
> came across a situation on a Kimball console that I have been tuning 
> for several years without any indication of a problem.
>
> This pertains to the mid range mainly.   After tuning the piano and 
> playing it, to make sure I was satisfied I was about to pack up when I 
> did a quick scale..just to make sure.
> Apparently the Bb below mid C was way out of tune.   I was perplexed 
> as I know I tuned the string.  Anyway, I tuned it again and just to be 
> sure played the A next to it...the string that shares the Bb ( it 
> loops around 2 hitch pins) was out of tune.  I tuned it, and lo and 
> behold...the Bb went out of tune. And not flat....it went sharp.   
> This happened whenever I tried tuning the adjacent A string...and it 
> didn't matter if I lowered or sharpened the string... the Bb string 
> always went sharp.
> I retuned the Bb several times and if I didn't touch the A string, 
> then it was fine.  And it's not a matter of loose tuning pins either.
>
> I checked underneath and that's when I discovered that several of the 
> strings in the mid range are looped around two hitch pins.  It seems 
> to me this may have something to do with it...that the string is 
> slipping on the hitch pin somehow..?????  Anyone ever deal with 
> anything like this?  Any good remedies?
>
> I wonder if the looping around 2 hitchpins is a manufacturer's fault, 
> or something has just gone awry.
>
> Baffled,
>
> Jon
>
>