<HTML>Hi,    Today I had to tune an older console Chickering,and over pulled= it 4 cents,as it was below standard pitch.I satrted pitching it from AO,wit= h my accutuner,tuned a couple of notes,and bamm,a broken string.A few more n= otes,another broken string,and another.I let the pitch down first,even used = a lubricate around the hitch pins,and on the coils.I have never felt a strin= g respond in this manner,as,I would let the pitch down,and it would go down = smooth.But as soon as I tried to bring it back up,it wouldn't budge,and if i= t did,bamm.Even a half step low,it still would not come back smoothly,also t= his was in the low bass only.Has anyone ever run across anything like this.I= have been tuning since the seventies,and have never had this kind of proble= m.The strings were dead sounding,and he decided to restring the bass,thank g= oodness,as I was about stumped.When I went to take off the bottom string,it = broke at the coil. Thanks, Hazen Bannister </HTML>