<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 1/27/01 9:57:04 AM Pacific Standard Time, Billbrpt@AOL.COM
<BR>writes:
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<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">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
<BR>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
<BR>at
<BR>this point, it is a matter of public safety and won't have any effect on
<BR>the
<BR>sound.
<BR>
<BR>I am thinking that these wound strings must have particularly high tension.
<BR>
<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
<BR>happening
<BR>(with the same gauge but a *new* set of strings)? (I do not view this as
<BR>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
<BR>produce
<BR>less power).
<BR>
<BR>It is also interesting to note that to date, only wound strings have
<BR>broken,
<BR>no plain wire.
<BR>
<BR>Bill Bremmer RPT
<BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="arial" LANG="0"> </BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BR>A charismatic church we used to attend and who I still tune for monthly, has
<BR>a Young Chang G-213. They have a history of broken strings, to the point that
<BR>I have nearly restrung the upper 2 sections (at individual times). Even with
<BR>new bass strings and Renner Blue hammers (which I did not replace), they
<BR>broke them. I did order a set of lower tension bass strings from Mapes and
<BR>replaced broken strings as needed.
<BR>
<BR>They need to turn the volume of the monitor up so the pianist can hear the
<BR>other instruments in the band as well as the piano. Other problems is that
<BR>the older Young Changs have a history of breaking strings and it is not
<BR>necessarily the scaling. I did some measuring and calculations and they did
<BR>not seem out of line as far is tension, string breakage percentage, etc. In
<BR>fact the treble (in the G-213) has very low inharmonicity.
<BR>
<BR>One idea is to regulate the letoff wider so the hammer will not hit the
<BR>strings at so much force. I have been told that these pianos have some design
<BR>problems such as too thick of soundboard (Del, please comment here). As to
<BR>whether or not it contributes to broken strings, I am not sure.
<BR>
<BR>The reality is that a spirit filled type church will encounter these problems
<BR>and you will make a lot of money replacing strings. Other than replacing the
<BR>piano this may be your only option unless they go totally electronic and you
<BR>do not have to serviced the piano again.
<BR>
<BR>Dave Peake, RPT
<BR>Portland Chapter
<BR>Oregon City, OR
<BR>www.davespianoworks.locality.com
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