<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1555" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>The real danger zone is: The very thin bass strings with the pretty sharp bend around the upper plate pin.</DIV> <DIV>I try to play the note with a lot of force while pulling the tuning hammer - -supposedly, if the string vibrates as it's pulled, there's less of a chance of breaking.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jesse Gitnik</DIV> <DIV>Tech. since 1980</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>