Pianotech

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

Hi Norman,

Wow, that's a lot of rust! I'm surprised you were able to tune it without more strings breaking. I hate it when I get a piano like that. 

As Jon said, your best bet moving forward is restringing, at a very minimum just the strings that have broken (I wouldn't try splicing them), preferably the whole thing. As to why it happened, I don't think anyone knows for certain. I have a theory that it probably wasn't the Dampp-Chaser, unless whoever installed it forgot to install the baffle, which helps distribute the humidity so this doesn't happen. If the baffle was installed properly, I'd look for excessive environmental humidity. Was the piano in a house next to the ocean or lake, or in a basement? Things like that. 

Hope this helps!

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman