The circumstances:
1961 Stnwy M, single owner been in the same room since new.
Has not been used in a generation.
Seems to be original stringing.
16 out of 26 strings in the top section are broken, almost all of them at the hitch pins. Exactly when this happened is unknown.
No other strings in the rest of the piano are broken or seem to have ever been replaced.
Owner thinks it unlikely that the piano could have been vandalized. Based upon the position of the string flags, the pins don't seem to have been turned to the point of string breakage and there are no marks on the pins indicating anything other than a tuning lever was ever used.
I am assuming that they are the correct size wires but haven't yet checked.
A cursory check with a straight edge indicates that the bridge in that section is tilted back towards the hitch pins.
Note: this is in the tropics and the rust on the strings is fairly moderate and not untypical, not to the point where strings break.
The question:
What the heck???
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Steven Rosenthal
Honolulu HI
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