From David Vanderhoofven <david@vanderpiano.com>
Hi Alan,
Thanks for visiting me on Saturday and taking me out to lunch. Here are
some pictures of your SUPERIOR method of splicing strings. (Scroll down to
the end of the email for the pictures.)
At 05:23 PM 4/8/2005, you wrote:
>Yep. it works. But it makes big, loose knots compared to the vice grips
>method. You DO have to use the round nose method, however, if you are
>making a loop that will slip over bass string windings.
The round nose pliers make hugely oversized loops compared to the perfectly
sized loops made using a skilled technician trained in the proper use of
vise grips.
>I'm spending some time tomorrow with David Vanderhooven who posted the
>nice pictures you referred to. Maybe he and I will slug it out and the
>winner will get back to you. <G>
There was no slugging involved, and I am not the winner. However, Alan
didn't take any pictures and I did, so here they are. (Scroll down to the
bottom for the pictures)
>This is a CLASSIC example of something that is very hard to learn out of a
>book or by anyone's written description. The ONLY use for round nosed
>pliers, IMH?O, is to make a biggish loop to wind around itself as a hitch
>pin loop. For splicing, it's two hard to make the loops small enough and
>even enough and you tend to get at least one sharp corner in each loop.
>Then, when you want to tighten the knot, you have to pull it way too much
>so it's hard to control where the knot ends up in the piano.
Now that I have been enlightened, I agree with Alan's remarks as listed above.
>For splicing string, forget every other method and get yourself some 5"
>Vice Grips (I think it says 5CW on the handle). This easily makes SMALL
>loops that come together in a small, tight knot.
>
>... [see the] PTG Technical Exam Sourcebook... In the copy I have, page V4
>has a good set of pics to show splicing in this manner and page V5 has a
>great hitch-loop procedure demonstrated ... It's so much easier to learn
>aural and mechanical skills when they are demonstrated and then you can
>try it in the presence of the one teaching. Hard to learn in the abstract
>and on your own. That's been the frustration of most of us in the business ...
I couldn't visualize the procedure until Alan showed me. Thanks for
teaching me, Alan!
>Alan R. Barnard
>Salem, MO
Sincerely,
David Vanderhoofven
Joplin, MO
Pictures described
Visegrips1.jpg
Using a pair of small visegrips pliers, clamp the end of the wire. How
much wire is held between the jaws of the pliers determines how much of a
tail the knot will have.
Visegrips2.jpg
Hold the wire in one hand and rotate the visegrips pliers to make a neat
270 degree loop in the wire. It is very easy to control the size of the
loop with this method.
Visegrips3.jpg
The completed loop
Visegrips4.jpg
Comparing my massively oversized loops (on the left) to Alan's loop that is
just the right size (on the right)
Visegrips5.jpg
Put the end of the long wire into the newly completed loop in the shorter
piece of wire used to make the splice.
Visegrips6.jpg
Make a neat loop in the end of the long wire. Just use the opposite motion
with the pliers as used in the picture titled Visegrips2.jpg.
Visegrips7.jpg
Insert the end of the short wire into the newly completed loop in the long
wire. Here you can see the neat loops made by Alan with vise grips pliers
(on the left), compared with the extremely oversized loops made by me using
round nose pliers (on the right).
Visegrips8.jpg
Although the picture is blurred, you can see Alan's splice made with vise
grips (on the left) compared with my splice made with round nose pliers (on
the right). I have applied a lot of tension on my splice and got it to
make a small knot. Notice the long ends sticking out of my knot. Compare
that to Alan's knot, which has had NO tension applied to it yet. Either
knot will hold under tension, but The knot made with vise grips pliers is
neater and more elegant.