•Bernt Damm wrote: > American pianos need re-stringing but the German ones do not. > We attribute this mainly to the fact that the American strings used > steel and not copper for the first layer of the 2-layer bass strings. > Somehow this rusts severely, creating a dull and tinny sound. This is str...

•Twisting bass strings is an absolute necessity when replacing them. It isn't something one does to "add another foot of length" exactly, but what one does to prevent the strings from rattling and buzzing, eventually. It also allows the string to develop all its partials. I don't like to get into th...

•Several people have asked me about how I derived the scale I used in our Foster piano, and why. First, let me say that I would never impose this scale on a high quality piano. But as a pianist, I feel that the "no name" or cheaper pianos can be improved simply by changing the way these piano were s...

•Craig Broucher wrote: > Twisting bass strings is an absolute necessity when replacing them. It > isn't something one does to "add another foot of length" exactly, but > what one does to prevent the strings from rattling and buzzing, > eventually. It also allows the string to develop all its partial...

•Herschel Mayo wrote in Digest 970822: > ARGGH!! I just finished reinstalling the harp in a 1928 Monarch > upright player piano, installed the bushings and am ready to re-string > it. Last night, I discovered that my kids trashed the paper on which I > had written the stringing scale, and the height...

•Re: Pianos without Pin Blocks (981216 MMDigest) The Mason & Hamlin pianos Bill Chapman reported on were known as "screw stringers," and they marked Mason & Hamlin's entry into the piano field from building reed organs. Stable they were -- after the tuner had spent the time to pound each string into...

•It can sometimes happen that piano supply houses offer felts for sale that shouldn't come closer than 100 paces to a piano, let alone be installed in one, touching strings and other metal parts. These felts have some chemical residue left in them, from the production or dying process, perhaps salts...

•I have a keen interest in piano bass strings. I've replaced a couple of dozen sets with varied results. The problems I've had were sometimes my fault, but many times the string maker didn't follow my instructions. Each maker has his own rules, practices and opinions. There is a sad lack of communic...

•Hi All, I've used Mapes Piano Strings (in Tennessee) to make every set of bass strings I've ever changed for the past 20+ years. I think I've sent maybe six strings back because there was a loose winding. However, they were all wound on a round core. Conversely, I've custom-made maybe a hundred bas...

•Hi Carl, Have you ever contacted Mapes String Co. for piano strings? I did for the first time last year, and have had wonderful results. The alignment on the piano was just great! On the hex core wire, I believe that this is round wire shaped into the hex before winding a replacement string. If the...

•Carl, do you happen to have the formula for the vibration frequency of a bass wound string? As far as a supply of hexagonal wire, you might try one of the best regarded string suppliers for piano techs: the Mapes String Company in Elizabethton, TN, 423-543-3195. As of several months ago, they were ...

•When I started out in this business I ordered a set of universal replacement strings. They were used so infrequently they discolored and I discarded them for a few reasons. When a bass string breaks, I can usually splice a new piece of wire on it and not have to bother with it again. I've successfu...

•I have been noticing that there are several different comments running concurrently in regard to bass strings, and that some things I've read might be a little misleading to some who want to understand the differ- ences. I realize that everybody has their own favorite company to buy their strings f...

•Hi All, I just finished talking to Lawrence Pierce at Mapes Piano String Co. about how bass strings are made. He said the process hasn't changed much since the first wrapped strings were manufactured. He also said he knew of only one company in the world (Schimmel in Germany) that uses/used hex cor...

•There is a vast difference between knotting a bass string close to the tuning pin, and knotting one in the speaking portion of the note. As a matter of fact, I have knotted strings on rare occasions when the knot wasn't going to be singing with the string. The ability to knot versus the ability to ...

•Hex core bass strings are often considered inferior in tone compared with properly calculated strings with a round core. This is usually apparent when "universal bass strings" (with a hex core) are used to replace broken original bass strings. Nonetheless, more than one piano manufacturer used hex ...

•Gang: Thanks to MMD, Jon Page and the piano gods I will soon have an Ampico action to install in my 1914 Chickering. I have refinished the cabinet, rebuilt and adjusted the action, so my question is, should I restring it as well? Being the second owner I am sure they are the original strings. I've ...

•I always lean toward restringing. In fact, it's a rarity when I don't. A reproducing piano deserves this kind of treatment. New bass strings will give you that big bass you want, and the larger pins throughout will let it last years longer to be enjoyed again after you are long gone. So the reprodu...

•Tim Mattice wrote: > [one local tech said] "This old piano isn't worth it." Wrong! Good sounding pianos, well rebuilt, bring top dollar. > The other says, "It wouldn't make that much difference." Absolutely wrong! > The #1 bass string sounds more like a 55-gallon drum > falling off a truck than any...

•A few years ago I had to replace a string in the lower bass section of a fine German grand piano from 1911 with original good sounding strings. I had tried to splice the string, but it had broken too close to the winding. The new string I ordered from a reputable Canadian supply house arrived and i...