<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Bill:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Is she left handed?  I don't know about that scale but I work with a "Spirit Filled" church some years ago that kept breaking bass strings on a Samick (mostly G2).  I suspected the scale.  Finally, unable to believe that this was their fault, they called someone else, thankfully!  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>dave<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********<BR><BR>On 1/27/01 at 12:12 PM Billbrpt@AOL.COM wrote:</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>List, <BR><BR>Yes, it's true and I need some opinions on what to do about it.  It is a <BR>Young Chang Grand model G-185, only a few years old.  It is meticulously <BR>cared for but early in it's service, the pianist at this, shall we say, <BR>"spirit filled" church complained of bass strings breaking and shooting out <BR>of the piano. <BR><BR>I have tried all of the usual.  I filed the hammers.  A monitor feeds back <BR>sound to the pianist.  When I explained to the church directors that it is <BR>the "vigorous" style of playing that sometimes causes strings to break, the <BR>pianist resigned.  Things were OK for a while but now there is a young lady <BR>who is firing scuds at the congregation faster than I can get there to <BR>collect them, get them duplicated and replace them. <BR><BR>She is quite upset and beside herself.  She refuses to believe that it is the <BR>*way* the piano is played that is causing this.  She claims that she has <BR>played the piano "all her life" and has never seen or even heard of this <BR>happening.  The piano has a string cover which she yanks out and throws in <BR>the corner.  She also says she has never played a piano with a "blanket" in <BR>it and just "couldn't" play with it in there.  I have firmly insisted that at <BR>this point, it is a matter of public safety and won't have any effect on the <BR>sound. <BR><BR>I am thinking that these wound strings must have particularly high tension.   <BR>Does anyone know if this is so?  Over the years I have heard of other such <BR>instances that were cured by replacing the wound strings with a set of <BR>lighter gauged, "happy" strings.  It would seem to me that a lower tension <BR>would solve the problem but in reading the recent post about "replacement <BR>strings", I am confused.  Some of these strings have been breaking at the <BR>bass bridge termination point rather than the agraffe.  That seems very <BR>unusual to me. <BR><BR>Should the manufacturer supply a new set of wound strings and if so, should <BR>they be a set designed for lower tension?  I presume that heavier gauged, <BR>higher tension strings provide a bigger, bolder sound.  What effect would <BR>lower tension have?  Just as a theoretical question, would tuning the <BR>instrument to a lower pitch, say 100 cents lower prevent this from happening <BR>(with the same gauge but a *new* set of strings)?  (I do not view this as an <BR>option, just a possibility that might work in some other circumstance).  (I <BR>also would not even consider altering the regulation to deliberately produce <BR>less power). <BR><BR>It is also interesting to note that to date, only wound strings have broken, <BR>no plain wire. <BR><BR>Bill Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT><FONT size=2 Arial></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML> <BR> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content='"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=GENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: x-small"> <DIV> <HR> <FONT size=3>David M. <FONT color=#000000 face="Times New Roman">Porritt</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3><A href="mailto:dporritt@swbell.net">dporritt@swbell.net</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Meadows School of the Arts</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Southern Methodist University</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Dallas, TX 75275</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3> <HR> </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>