Dave,
I recently shaped and voiced a set of grand hammers on a piano that was
recently tuned.?? Before I left I touched up a few unisons.?? To my
disappointment one treble string broke during a very minor touch-up.??
This was in an area with other obviously replaced strings, so the likely
cause was a section or size of weak strings or a very bad scale.
Breaking strings are usually rare on good pianos, even when pulling
strings over pitch to stabilize tension and settle pins and pitch.?? I
recall having more breaking strings earlier in my career and I see lots
of other tuner's strings on pianos I am tuning.?? This suggests that
experience helps.
I use a string lubricant often.?? I use a solution of mostly CLP with a
few drops of Marvel Mystery Oil, which from my experience is a rust
inhibitor (see my article in the PTJ; January 2018).
Original Message------
Blaine - thanks so much for your help and experience which is most reassuring because it's exactly what I've been in the habit of doing.
In cases where you suspect fragile strings - or just when you want to be extra careful, I recommend generously dropping the pitch before pulling it up. I like to "polish" the contact points with enough pitch drop to clean off some of the corrosion before pulling strings up to pitch (and I go right up to pitch or even a bit above - let em break).
It was in the action of letting the string down slightly that the Steinway string broke and it's that which confused me.
Some years ago an experienced friend told me that I should always take the string up rather than letting down, and seeing danger in that I've ignored his advice stubbornly. The habit of letting the string down slightly has saved me on a number of occasions where I've ended up with the hammer on the wrong pin.
In my original post, this thread being about specific breakage at the entry to the tuning pin coil, I ignored an occasion where I tuned a friend's 100 year old Ebach grand and strings broke because the cause was particularly obvious. The strings were original and the angle secured by the agraffes between the sounding length and the pull-up length to the tuning pin was ridiculously sharp, repeated tunings causing metal fatigue by bending of the wire, and if untuned for years, a kink in the wire needing careful massaging out but the metal fatigue won on many.
It was on that instrument that I learned the technique of letting the string down and pulling it up only during vibration and to pitch exactly, no fine tuning being possible.
Both the modern Petrof II in the cold church and, worse, the 110 year old Ruch which had been stored in a garage at the top of a mountain both displayed a similar characteristic.
Whilst accepting the challenge of "exciting" pianos, the delight on the faces of all the owners of having working instruments again capable of sound beautiful to some degree were sights to behold and most rewarding.
The tour of such instruments "in the wild" was accompanied by a piano teacher, whose customers were the owners, and a concert pianist friend. On account of my temperament change they teased "You've succeeding in ruining a Steinway" . . . "You've made it sound like a Pleyel!" And much to their delight and that of the instrument's owner.
However, there is such a dearth of upcoming expertise certainly in this particular region of France that no-doubt other novices will be coming to the PGT forums asking stupid questions such as mine. Your toleration, kindness, help and reassurances are much appreciated and will be by others in due course.
Best wishes
David P
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David Pinnegar, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
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+44 1342 850594