
                                                         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
        
        Press P to print out this chapter, or ESC for the menu


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