<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 9"> <meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 9"> <link rel=File-List href="cid:filelist.xml@01C6A472.BCEA8170">  <style>  </style> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"/><o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"/><o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"/> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='tab-interval:.5in'> <div class=Section1> <![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p> <![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p> -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Michelle Smith Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 2:21 PM To: 'Pianotech List' Subject: String replacement under overstrung area <![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p> Hi everyone.  I was tuning my mom’s ancient upright (1908) and of course a string broke.  Even worse, it was D#4 and in the area where the strings overlap.  While this was great stringing practice, I have to believe there’s a trick to getting the string where it needs to go (and stay there) without hours of heartache and assistance from my dad!  I felt like I was torturing this poor old piano.  Any words of wisdom?<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Michelle Smith<o:p></o:p> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Bastrop</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p> <![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p> There are several devices to aid in this task, but it’s still a pain.  Measure and cut the wire first and make the bend for the hitch pin.  Then you can use any of the following devices for feeding the loop under the bass strings and down to the hitch pin:  the dowel with a slot in the end (has to be pretty thin diameter);  a flattened curtain rod (the kind whose cross section is an elongated ‘C’; a thin slat of wood with two parallel lengths of thin tubing epoxied to it; some claim they’ve used a paper clip (clip the loop to the remaining string or an adjacent unison), and there’s another device made by Will Leverett (<a href="mailto:wmlsml68@earthlink.net">wmlsml68@earthlink.net</a>) that’s sort of a “shoe” or “skate” that guides the string under the bass strings.  Once you’ve got the loop over the hitch pin, clamp it with hemostats or small vise-grips, then slip off the device, get the wires under the pressure bar (a piece of curved thin tubing sometimes helps here), and do the rest like replacing any other string.  <o:p></o:p>             It’s a pain, and doesn’t happen often enough for us to get a lot of practice at it.  Patience is key.  <o:p></o:p>             --David Nereson, RPT <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> </div> </body> </html>