<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6001.18099" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Phil,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With treble strings, the most important factor is hammer shape and playing style.  Worn hammers add a lot of stress to the strings, and shaping them once a year will reduce their string breakage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If they are willing to spend a little money to cut down the breakage, replace all the wire in the affected area, smooth the capo bar while the strings are off, then shape the hammers and regulate the action.  For a days work they will have a huge improvement.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As for stability, as others have said if the pitch is shifting around then climate control might help.  If it's just hard playing, the hammer shaping and regulation might do a lot of good.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Check that the action brackets aren't going bad as well.  If the letoff is getting high and the hammers are jamming when played hard, string stress will also be high.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Don Mannino</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=pryan2@the-beach.net href="mailto:pryan2@the-beach.net">PJR</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 27, 2008 1:52 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> String breaker Too</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Reading Wim's solution brought to mind a similar problem: I service a small(4'11") Weber(Korean) grand in a piano bar.  It is only three years old.  They have about five piano players that take turns beating the tar out of that piano every night.  I tune it every two weeks and it is horrendously out of tune with at least two broken treble strings each time.  The tuning pins seem normally tight ( I don't have a torque wrench) and I pound the tuning in good, but it is noticeably out of tune in a matter of days.  I know that this is not the quality of piano for this venue, but my question is,  would CA gluing the pins be a solution to keep this piano in tune, being only three years old?  I've never doped a piano this young. Is there any other solution that might stop this slippage?  Would  Wim's (et al.) solution of a monitor speaker be a viable solution?<BR> Phil Ryan<BR>Miami Beach<BR><BR><BR>Willem Blees wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:8CAD68F6DFBAB2C-F44-B90E@WEBMAIL-NG07.sysops.aol.com type="cite"><WBR>Jim<BR><BR>Tell the church to put a monitor speaker behind the pianist. He/she is trying to play as loud as the drummer sitting next to him/her. But since he/she can't hear the piano over all the racket, he/she plays louder. A monitor speaker right behind him/her will help. But the piano player has to do his/her part, too. <BR><BR> <DIV style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<BR>Piano Tuner/Technician<BR>Honolulu, HI<BR>808-349-2943<BR><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="http://www.bleespiano.com">www.bleespiano.com</A><BR>Author of <BR>The Business of Piano Tuning<BR>available from Potter Press<BR><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="http://www.pianotuning.com">www.pianotuning.com</A></DIV><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: James Johnson <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:jhjpiano@sbcglobal.net"><jhjpiano@sbcglobal.net></A><BR>To: <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A><BR>Sent: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 4:00 am<BR>Subject: String breaker<BR><BR> <DIV id=AOLMsgPart_2_f37dc3bd-7bf0-4dbf-9b17-4e9f48a058a7> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have a Kawai model 500 in a church which constantly has broken bass strings.  All the breakage occurs from B2 up to the break.  I am getting tired of ordering replacement strings and actually order them in multiple sets now so I have several replacements on hand.  I have deregulated the action to reduce power (no, the pianist hasn't noticed) and that helped a bit, but broken strings are still an almost weekly occurance.  Any suggestions?  Would rescaling that part of the piano help?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks, Jim Johnson</FONT></DIV></DIV> <DIV class=aol_ad_footer id=u8CAD68F6DFBAB2C-F44-B90E><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL,SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> <HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px"> Check out <A title=http://video.aol.com/show/ap/101923?ncid=aolvdp00050000000184 href="http://video.aol.com/show/ap/101923?ncid=aolvdp00050000000184" target=_blank moz-do-not-send="true">AOL Video</A> to see what's making news today!</FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>