<!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 6.00.6000.16525" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7> <DIV> <DIV>  Hi </DIV> <DIV>  I echo RIcs sound advice.  I'd be surprised if Yamaha's were all hat high a tension. In fact changing the scale only a half wire size will change the sonority of tone & you may be un happy with it  . ASMHIK!!</DIV> <DIV>   In my Experience the string breakage problem is almost always hammer related & secondarily a pianist playing to hard beyond it's intended design parameters in with flat hard hammers .   A lot of this going on in many places.</DIV> <DIV>  It will be wasted time, effort & cash to replace the strings & not the hammers. Historically pianos are tuned, tuned, tuned.........& snap is that a string I hear breaking from lack of hammer care.  Hmmmmmm</DIV> <DIV>  Dale I've had several C3's under my care from that period and really cant say any of them have developed any kind of a chronic string breakage problem.  All of them that have been under heavy use have had hammer changes done, a few of them are on there 3rd set of hammers.  Old strings on a high tension scale will be subject to breakage to be sure... but new strings along with an appropriate dressing of the capo should prevent any recurrence all else being equal. I have had excellent results with Yamaha grands using Wurzen II felt from Renner Germany.  I suppose Ronsens in the states may be comparable... but I get the feeling from talk on the list they are a bit softer. Renner Blues may also be a good choice.  I also find that using the Steinway diamond shape works really quite well indeed, tho I have been taught both by the Academy and a couple voicing masters that Yamahas require a rounder shape.  My own experience tells me one can get greater dynamic range with the diamond shape, tho perhaps one has to opt for a slightly more rounded off fff sound.  Personally I like that especially on Yamahas because they easily sound crashy and noisy to my ears when the hammers are too hard.  The diamond shape seems to allow for a sound that swells nicely just after the attack. And if kept just under the icy/glassy sound at fff this combines to minimize string noise, phasing and other such extraneous noises. Cheers RicB     The piano in question, a Yamaha C3 built in the first half of 1977 has     developed a string breaking problem. It is in a public high school     it has     very light rust spots on some strings, mostly high treble. I     rebushed keys,     reshaped hammers and regulated it a year ago, probably the first     regulation     it had had since new. I have consulted with 3 different techs at     Yamaha, all     independently, all unaware of my having talked with the others. I     got the     same answer, metal fatigue of the strings due to the high tension     scale. 2     added that the problem may be exacerbated between the bench and the     keyboard. Not only do I agree with the last statement but so does     she, the     vocal director, admits that she has a very heavy touch. However I     have also     had strings break when I was tuning, not while I was tuning them but     after I     had moved on and was a couple of strings away, no longer even on the     unison.     The director has had bass strings break while playing, 2 last year,     one so     far this year.     My initial inclination was to look into rescaling it but after     talking with     a friend who has more experience with re-scaling than I do, perhaps that     wouldn't be the best avenue. It was his feeling that perhaps the 30YO     hammers may be the culprit. restringing may solve the breaking     problem in     the immediate future because it's new wire but with the old hammers the     breakage will return before long.     The piano, as I understand it, was designed primarily as a smaller stage     piano, a concert instrument if you will. The school uses it 4 hours     a day     minimum in a classroom setting, very hard use. As it was put to me     what they     need with the re-string is a 99% classroom instrument and a 1% concert     instrument.     I have the great good fortune of the Superintendent of Schools for this     district having been a former elementary music teacher and he worked     his way     through college doing "piece" work for a piano tech. Shop work, key     bushings, flange bushings, repinning, etc. So he not only     appreciates a fine     working piano but knows all of the work and time that goes into     making it     that way.     I am looking for advice from one and all. Anyone with any experience     with     this make and model or a similar one would be great but in lieu of     that give     me opinions.     Thanks,     Mike     --     Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The     important thing     is to not stop questioning.-- Albert Einstein </DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</DIV></BODY></HTML>