REPLACING A STRING on a PIANO

 

                                                         Chapter 6-1

                               CHAPTER  SIX

        

                            REPLACING A STRING

        

             Although  this course "STRICTLY TUNING" does not  offer 

        instruction  on piano repair per se, there is one  procedure 

        that  is necessary to include in any discussion  on  tuning.  

        That is the replacement of a piano string.

        

             No matter how careful you are, and no matter how new  a 

        piano may be, it is possible that a string will break during 

        a  normal tuning.  It is more likely to happen on  an  older 

        instrument, but just be aware that it can happen any time to 

        anyone.  You should know how to make a number of other minor 

        on the spot repairs before you take on your first  customer, 

        but  for  sure,  a piano will not make  a  sound  without  a 

        string. 

        

             Numerous  other  minor  repairs are  explained  on  the 

        "BUSINESS" disk which you will receive when you enroll as  a 

        student.

        

             It  is  possible that in the beginning  stage  of  your 

        Piano  Service  Business,  you may want  to  concentrate  on 

        tuning and farm out repair work to other technicians in your 

        area.  This is not a bad idea for a number of reasons:

        

        1.   You will be able to begin advertising and tuning  imme-

             diately upon completing this course.  This means $ will 

             be coming in right away.

        

        2.   You  will be making contacts with other people in  this 

             business and as a result will learn a great deal  about 

             the prospects in your area.

        

        3.   You  will not be "pressured" into  learning  everything 

             about piano servicing before you start tuning.  You can 

             take  your time with the repair phase take on more  and 

             more of this type of work as you are learning.

        

             Of course, if you currently are making a living in some 

        other  pursuit,  I would recommend learning all  I  have  to 

        offer BEFORE you start.  This way, when you open your  busi-

        ness  your  can advertise "TUNING/REPAIR" rather  than  just 

        restricting yourself to tuning alone.

        

             It is beyond the scope of "STRICTLY TUNING" to go  into 

        a  complete  restringing project.  We will  concentrate  our 

        efforts here on single string replacement.

        

             First, just as in tuning, you need the necessary tools.  

        When  you look through supply house catalogs, you  will  see 

        there  are a great many different shape tools to  accomplish 

        the same result.  Most of these are excellent so I will  not 

        tell  you exactly which one you need, just the type of  tool 

        necessary.

        

                                                         Chapter 6-2

        YOU WILL NEED:

        

        A wire gauge

        Tuning hammer ( you should already have)

        Chain nose or long nose pliers

        Wire cutters

        Standard type pliers

        String lifter

        String spacer

        Stringing hook

        Wire sizes:

             12  - 22. Unless you do a great deal of stringing,  1/4 

        lb. of sizes 12-15 and 1 lb. of the larger sizes will do.

        

        BASS STRINGS - see info later in this chapter

        

        

                         TREBLE STRING REPLACEMENT

        

             Let's  assume you are tuning an upright piano  and  you 

        are  just getting into the upper treble - A  string  BREAKS!  

        Do you break out into a sweat?  No - you just calmly  recall 

        what I am now going to present.

        

             Recall that in the treble, one length of wire  actually 

        makes up two strings of a unison.

        

             Remove  the action by removing the four  (or  sometimes 

        three)  action bracket bolt nuts, removing the  wooden  rods 

        that are attached to the pedals (trapwork), and lifting  the 

        action up and out.  Be careful not to damage any dampers  on 

        the action bracket bolts.  Stand the action in a safe  place 

        by  leaning  it carefully against a solid wall or  piece  of 

        furniture.   Some actions will stand on the action  brackets 

        and  some won't.  Be careful, or you will wish you  had  al-

        ready studied the repair section on the Business Disk

        

        SEE SPINET ACTION REMOVAL AT END OF CHAPTER!

        

             Now  you have all the working room you need to  replace 

        the string.  Follow the broken string to the two tuning pins 

        attached  to it.  Loosen the pins slightly and pry the  coil 

        out  of the eye with a screw driver, then lift the coil  out 

        with  your  needle nose pliers.  Find a clean  part  of  the 

        string  and measure it with your wire gauge.   Now,  DISCARD 

        the old wire before you get cut.  I speak from experience!

        

             With  a tape measure, determine the distance  from  the 

        upper  tuning pin to the hitch pin.  Double it for the  dis-

        tance of the return trip to the other tuning pin.  Now,  ADD 

        8 inches for the extra needed for the coils on the pin.  Cut 

        this  amount of wire from the new coil of the same  size  as 

        the old string.

        

             Turn  the  tuning pins out three full  turns  with  the 

        tuning  hammer to allow for the coil and put one end of  the 

        wire under the pressure bar and guide it through the eye  of 

                                                         Chapter 6-3

        the  right  hand pin with the stringing hook.   If  you  are 

        working on a grand piano put the string on the left hand pin 

        to keep the new coil out of the way of the second coil.

        

             Make  sure the wire is all the way through the eye  and 

        flush  with  the other side.  Then, while holding  the  wire 

        firmly  with the stringing hook, turn the tuning pin  clock-

        wise  with the tuning hammer until you have two and  a  half 

        turns  of  wire  on the pin.  Draw the wire  down  over  the 

        bridge  and wrap it around the hitch pin.  When you bend  it 

        around the hitch pin, pull it as tight as you can and put  a 

        good bend in it.  Now, bring it up and above the next tuning 

        pin.

        

             You  now have to cut off all of the excess wire  EXCEPT 

        for the amount necessary to allow for the three coils on the 

        tuning pin.  The easiest way to measure this is by using the 

        width  of  your hand.  Hold the wire above the  pin  between 

        your  thumb and fingers with your hand extended and cut  the 

        wire  just above your hand so there will be at  least  three 

        inches of wire above the pin.

        

             Guide the string under the pressure bar and through the 

        eye  of  the tuning pin.  Put two coils on the pin,  but  no 

        more.  You now have to put the string around the pins on the 

        bridge and you have to have enough slack in the string to do 

        this.

        

             With  the string lifter holding the wire  steady,  turn 

        the  pin about one half turn taking care to make  the  coils 

        neat  and  the string not overlapping.  Now, return  to  the 

        other pin and finish putting the three neat coils on it with 

        the  help  of a screwdriver or the string lifter.   Put  the 

        final  half  turn  on the other pin and you  should  have  a 

        string  that has three neat coils on each pin,  is  threaded 

        around the correct bridge pins and is ready to be tuned.

        

             If  the  coils  are not neat  enough,  loosen  the  pin 

        slightly and make adjustments.  Use your long nose pliers to 

        push the wire firmly into the eye of the pins.  Ensure  that 

        the string is firmly against the plate just below the  hitch 

        pin.  If not, use a screwdriver and a small hammer to tap it 

        flush.   Use regular pliers and squeeze the wire just  above 

        the hitch pin to help with the stretching process.

        

             Bring  the new string up over pitch about  four  C.P.S.  

        Since  it  will  fall down quickly, a return  trip  will  be 

        necessary in a few days to bring it back up to pitch.

        

             If a return trip is not possible from some reason,  and 

        the  wire  you replaced happens to be one  that  provides  a 

        string  for two different pitches, here is what I  sometimes 

        do.  Bring the new string up over the pitch about six C.P.S. 

        (on both notes) and then place a mute firmly between the two 

        new strings.  You will now have only two strings of the left 

        and  right note sounding, but they will be in  tune  because 

        the  muted off strings will not be heard.  When  you  return 

        for  your next regular appointment, you merely pull out  the 

                                                         Chapter 6-4

        mute and tune the string in the usual manner.  It will  have 

        stretched out by then and you should have no problem with it 

        going below pitch.

        

             If the wire is two strings of the same unison, you  can 

        still  mute off the new wire, but be careful that  the  mute 

        does  not  cut off the sound of the  one  remaining  string.  

        Explain to the customer that the sound will be a bit  "thin" 

        until  you  return to remove the mute and tune  the  string.  

        Also, be sure to explain the extra charge necessary for  the 

        return trip.  If you are lucky, he/she may understand...

        

        

                          SINGLE TREBLE STRINGS

        

             Occasionally, you will find a treble string that is not 

        wrapped  around  a hitch pin.  It will have a  loop  on  the 

        bottom  and  will  be placed on the hitch pin  in  the  same 

        manner  as the bass strings.  If this is the case, you  will 

        have  to wind a loop on the bottom of the string  either  by 

        hand  or  with a LOOPING MACHINE available from  the  supply 

        house of your choice.

        

             If you have a looping machine, the directions that come 

        with  it are sufficient.  If you have to do it by  hand,  it 

        gets a little more complicated.

        

             Put  a  medium  size nail in a vice with  the  head  up 

        better  than 1/4".  Wrap about two inches (if the wire  size 

        is 12-15 or three inches if the wire is thicker) around  the 

        nail. Then starting about 3/8" from the nail, wrap the  wire 

        around  itself with pliers.  Make the wrapping as close  and 

        as  tight as possible.  Cut off any wire you are  unable  to 

        wrap and leave only a 1/4" stub.

        

             If this sounds confusing, just look at one of the  bass 

        strings on the piano and this procedure should become clear.  

        After  doing this by hand two times, I purchased  a  looping 

        machine.  I'm not saying it is impossible to do by hand, but 

        since  you will only have to do this occasionally, you  will 

        have  to practice the procedure in your shop every so  often 

        or  it  will be awkward to do in the  customers  home.   The 

        looping machine works perfectly every time with very  little 

        practice.  The choice is yours.

        

        

                         BASS STRING REPLACEMENT

             If a bass string breaks, you have two choices.  1)  You 

        can send the broken string to the supply house for an  exact 

        duplicate,  or  2) You can match the string  as  closely  as 

        possible  from a supply of "universal bass strings" you  can 

        obtain from a supply house.

        

             Sending broken bass strings back for duplicates is  the 

        choice  if  there  is no time constraint  and  the  customer 

        agrees.  However, usually it is preferable to use one of the 

        universal  strings.   You just purchase a  packet  of  these 

                                                         Chapter 6-5

        strings  and carry them to  all tunings.   The  instructions 

        included are easy to follow and if you learned the procedure 

        for putting on a treble string, you will have no trouble  in 

        putting on a bass string.

        

        

                             LOOSE TUNING PINS

        

             It  is possible that due to the age of the  piano,  the 

        tuning pin, after being turned out three turns and then back 

        in, will be too loose to hold the tension of the new string.  

        If  the  pin is on the verge of being too loose  before  you 

        begin to replace the broken string, you have two choices.

        

             The recommended procedure is to replace the pin with an 

        oversized one.  You would need a tuning pin gauge to  deter-

        mine  the correct size of the old pin.  Usually  new  pianos 

        are  pinned with size 2/0.  You can purchase pins up to  7/0 

        by  the dozen from any supply house.  It is a good  idea  to 

        carry pin sizes 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 with you at all times.

        

             The other choice is to take out the old tuning pin  and 

        insert a metal tuning pin bushing in the hole.  Replace  the 

        old  pin and you effectively have increased the  old  tuning 

        pin  by two sizes.  These bushings are very inexpensive  and 

        are  an acceptable repair.  If you have to go up  more  than 

        two  sizes, you of course would have to use a larger  tuning 

        pin.

        

             The  procedure is to turn out the old  pins,  determine 

        the  size  and select new pins at least  two  sizes  larger.  

        Then,  using a tuning pin punch (available from  the  supply 

        house)  and a hammer, pound in the new pins until  they  are 

        level  with the other old pins.  Now, turn out the new  pins 

        three full turns and proceed with the stringing process.

        

             CAUTION:   If you are working on a grand  piano,  NEVER 

        pound in the tuning pins without using a jack under the  pin 

        block.   The jack to use is available from any supply  house 

        and  an explanation on its use is included.  In  an  upright 

        piano,  the pin block is part of the structure of the  piano 

        but in the grand, it is an entity all its own and will crack 

        under hard pounding.  If you are only replacing a few  pins, 

        it is permissible to turn in the pins with the tuning hammer 

        on  a grand. However, when completely restringing the  grand 

        piano it is better to pound them in.

        

        

                        REMOVING THE SPINET ACTION

        

             In the 1930's a new type of piano action was introduced 

        called  the  "Drop Action".  It is identical  to  the  other 

        typical upright actions except for:

        

             The  DROP  ACTION  or Indirect Blow  Action  is  mostly 

        placed BELOW the key height. A lifter of some sort  (usually 

        a wire) is attached to the back of the key and extends down-

                                                         Chapter 6-6

        ward to the bottom of the whippen.  When the key is  struck, 

        the  lifter wire lifts the whippen and from then on,  every-

        thing works just as in the "DIRECT BLOW" action.

        

             When removing this type action you must first disengage 

        the  lifter wires from the back of the key - attach them  to 

        the  action rail (with string or tape) - remove  the  action 

        bolts or screws - remove the screws that hold the bottom  of 

        the  action  to the piano - detach the pedal rods  from  the 

        action and lift it straight up and out.

        

             That  is an over simplification of the removal  of  the 

        SPINET action, but it is essentially correct.

        

             The  important thing to remember is that you  must  get 

        the lifter wires out of the way before removal of the action 

        or you will surely break them when lifting it out.

        

             It  is possible that there will not be enough  room  to 

        safely  lift out the action without removing the  keys  from 

        the  key  bed. If you need to remove the keys,  be  sure  to 

        number  them from 1 -88 with a pencil before removal.   Most 

        manufacturers  number the keys on the top, but  the  numbers 

        may be hard to read.

        

             ALSO,  be very careful when lifting out the  action  so 

        you  do  not damage the dampers on the tuning pins  or  rods 

        that the action brackets are attached to.

        

             Removing  the  Spinet Action is more or less  a  common 

        sense procedure, but since there are so many different types 

        of  drop actions out there, I have included a more  complete 

        discussion  of this procedure in the Repair section  on  the 

        Business disk.

        

             You can also request service manuals directly from  the 

        manufacturer when in doubt.

        

             The  information  presented in this chapter  should  be 

        sufficient  for  the occasional single  string  replacement. 

        In this chapter, you learned:

        

        1.   Tools necessary to replace piano strings

        2.   Treble string replacement

        3.   "Single" treble string replacement (how to make a  loop 

             in the string)

        4.   Bass string replacement

        5.   What to do in case of loose tuning pins

        6.   Cautions on pounding in grand tuning pins

        

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