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Tom,
<p>I'm really sorry this happened to you. I'm really <i>really</i>
glad it didn't happen to me. My paranoia over breaking strings has
subsided a little, but anything breaking in that midrange makes me break
out in a sweat, especially if it's a spinet where removing the action will
mean installing a new set of rubber grommets, too! (I have learned
to replace broken strings in a spinet without removing the action, if I
have to, but it's not a picnic either way.)
<p>I'm trying to visualize your situation. I never ran into a pressure
bar quite that tight. First, a caution that it may be difficult to
loosen that pressure bar screw with all the tension it's under. Also,
you may not be able to tighten it again without letting down the tension
of neighboring strings. If the screw gets stressed too much it could
break, after which you might need medication for depression.
<p>Depending on how close together the pressure bar screws are, you may
even have to loosen the next one or two a little. You don't want
to risk cracking the pressure bar, although I don't know how likely that
is to happen.
<p>I would encourage taking your time, go to a little more bother than
you might otherwise to make the job as easy as you can. When you
have the new string in, tighten down the pressure bar just enough to get
a decent tone in that area. It is a Kimball, after all.
<p>Regards,
<br>Clyde Hollinger
<p>Tvak@AOL.COM wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Tuned a Kimball console yesterday and broke a string.
A trichord unison at
<br>E3/F3 broke at the becket, which surprised me since the piano was not
that
<br>flat. And then I found out why it broke. The pressure bar
is extremely
<br>tight and creates way too much friction. I judge this on the
fact that it
<br>was extremely difficult just to remove the broken string. I had
to use a
<br>pliers. And the needlenose pliers I tried first didn't do the
trick; I had
<br>to get the big pliers out of the tool case and pull as hard as I could
to get
<br>it out of there, and it went millimeter by millimeter by tug by tug.
(My
<br>wrist is still sore today.) I didn't replace the string because
it goes
<br>under the bass strings and I didn't have the tool with me (that tube
thing
<br>from APSCO, whatever it's called) to insert the new string in place.
(All in
<br>all, this was my lucky day.)
<p>So I'm going back next week. I'm worried that I won't be able
to get the new
<br>string under the pressure bar. I've been told NEVER loosen those
screws on
<br>the pressure bar, but what if I can't get the string in there?
What will
<br>happen if I loosen that one little screw? And in fact there is one
right
<br>there between E3 and F3. I think that little bugger is the problem
here.
<p>I would imagine that loosening the pressure bar a bit would put that
register
<br>out of tune. OK, I can retune it. Any other dangers here?
Will the piano
<br>bench fall apart or the logo decal come off?
<p>Seriously, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the subject. It would
be pretty
<br>embarrassing if I can't get a new string in there.
<p>Tom Sivak</blockquote>
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