<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: String Breakage</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> <BLOCKQUOTE>Greetings to all! I have been following this topic somewhat. Our church's M & H, as some of you may know, breaks strings like crazy.=  This is a problem related to hard hammers, improper work done, etc. &= nbsp;My playing doesn't help matters any either.  I don't see how the d= amper pedal can attribute to string breakage.  Can someone please expla= in this?   Antares writes back : You already gave the answer in saying "This is a problem related to ha= rd hammers, improper work done, etc." Matthew: Here is another question I have... How come I break strings so easily on the M & H, and I can practice and= play the living daylights out of a 1901 Story and Clark upright (original p= arts), and not even stir the tuning job?  Now I understand that the M &= amp; H needs work done on it to prevent string breakage, longer tuning stabi= lity, etc., but this Story and Clark has been sitting and hardly had any wor= k done to it (a tuning once a year), much longer than the M & H has or e= ver will. Antares writes back : It might indeed have to do with the extreme angle of the strings going unde= r the capo bar, but it could also very well be that the strings are rusted o= r older? I have a customer with such a M&H. The customer is a professional with = a heavy hand, the strings are rusted and old and...PANG! there we go.....aga= in and again. I told her to have it restrung and more, because otherwise, the M&H is = a diamond. One more question in this missive... . What can cause a hammer shank to crack from dynamic playing rather than the= string breaking? Antares writes back : What goes first? steel or wood? But if and when a "pianist" breaks shanks, that pianist is a gori= lla, and I would call the paramedics Friendly greetings from Antares</BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>