<html> All, As always, I thank you greatly for your replies! I am learning so much by reading this list and have always gotten excellent feedback to my queries. Thanks again. Kevin, you are absolutely right that it's too labor intensive and potentially short-lived to be a viable business solution to old dull strings. I want to re-emphasize that I am aware of that. Right now, all I do is learn, learn, learn. I don't want to put too many $$ into this old junker piano that at some point I will become anxious to use it to experiment because I see it as some form of investment. I will keep you all informed on the long-term effects of the CLR. Regards, /Claudia At 07:07 PM 7/11/2002 Thursday, Kevin E. Ramsey wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>    Claudia;  Sounds really cool, from a technical point of view. It will be an interesting subject to follow up on. I wonder how long the effect will last?  I wonder if the CLR isn't just going to keep acting on them to the point that they become totally corroded? Keep us informed. Seems like an awful lot of work when a new set from Mapes doesn't cost that much, really.     After being in this business for a while, you won't want to do this kind of labor-intensive work, and then you'll just see the situation for what it is and tell the customer (even if that customer is you, yourself) that they need a new set. In my opinion, that's what I'd do; you'll know that everything's going to be good from then on out.       At least you're doing things to help yourself learn, and yes, that's a good thing. ( As the now infamous Martha Stewart used to say.)(Grin)       My best to you. I'm glad you're on the list.         Kevin E. Ramsey <a href="mailto:ramsey@extremezone.com">ramsey@extremezone.com</a> <dl> <dd>----- Original Message ----- <dd>From: <a href="mailto:claudia_cimenti@mail.com">Claudia Cimenti</a> <dd>To: <a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a> <dd>Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 7:24 PM <dd>Subject: Rusty and dull bass strings <dd>Hello List, <dd>What does an aspiring tech do who has nothing to lose? Experiment!! <dd>My old "guinea pig" upright has dead bass strings. Totally rusted. When you <dd>play them they just go "duh!"... I tried the "twist 'em" technique, but it <dd>did not help much. <dd>So tonight I took a bass string off and cleaned in CLR (yep, the "Calcium / <dd>Lime / Rust" cleaner you can get at stores such as Walgreens). The outcome? <dd>A shiny brand-new looking string that goes "roaaaaaaarrrr!".</blockquote> <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> </dl>----- Claudia Cimenti Northborough, Massachusetts claudia_cimenti@mail.com -----</html>