[ Jon Page wrote to John: ]

> The broken wire is in the piano, the splice is the add-on.
>
> First make a loop on the wire.  Make the loop on the splice and
> little larger so the wire loop will pass through.  Making a slight
> bend in the strings at the cross-over helps to align them.  The
> loops need to be opposed.
>
> Slide the splice over the wire and insert the tail-end of the
> splice into the wire loop.  Draw them together.


Hi Jon,  Attached is the scanned image of my first attempt at knotting,
using the heaviest gauge piano wire I have, an old worn-out pair of
needle nose pliers and your instructions (below).  It took me about
seven minutes, and I did it while sitting here at the computer.

I held the two pieces of wire in my hands, using no vice or other
gripping tools.  I did use a heavy set of pliers and a large vise
to pull the knot tight, but that would (I imagine) normally be
accomplished when the string is brought up to pitch.

Actually, your picture told the whole story.  The 'trick' is making
the loop in the existing string big enough to allow the loop in the
replacement piece of wire to pass though it and the up-bends so the
two loops align better.

The last time I tried to knot heavy wire, I spent about 30 minutes
bending and twisting the wire before I gave up in disgust and replaced
the broken bass string with a universal replacement string.

Thanks for the technique,

John A. Tuttle

 [ The photos make it seem easy!  I'll place the image files
 [ at the MMD Pictures site.  -- Robbie