need some info on restringing a paino

[Semiphillip]

I have done some major restoration work on an old John Strohmneger and Sons baby grand piano, I removed all the strings without recording the string sizes. I need to order new strings. Does anyone have any information on the strings that might have been used so I can restring this piano? The serial number for that piano is 17124 (got the number on the sound board), the length is 62" and the width 58 3/4".

[Colin Nicholson]

Firstly, de-stringing and restringing a piano is highly specialised work, and should only be carried out by an experienced and qualified piano technician. The info here is just a guide, and does not constitute towards any tutorial or lesson how to restring.

3 questions.....

Have you ever restrung a piano before?
Have you removed all the bass strings aswell?
Have you kept the old treble & bass strings?

If so, you will need to employ a piano technician to roughly gauge the steel wires... then measure some of the bass strings and 'piece' them back together - but its tricky & not guaranteed/ may be refused... and without the rubbing pattern to send off, you will never get the new bass strings - no one can guess that..... and your piano may now become scrap - sorry to say.

Before you remove the bass strings, you need to do a brown paper rubbing with crayon of the whole area (dampers removed), then remove the first and last strings of each section... then send them & the rubbing pattern (with corresponding holes etched for the bridge/hitch pins) to a bass string maker (through the trade only).

Treble strings come in 500g coils, and there are approx. 10 - 12 different gauges of wire for any piano. Top treble section usually starts with 13 or 13.5 gauge (top A or C), then stops around 16 - 16.5 gauge (over the break). Depending on the length of the treble strings in the tenor region, most pianos end the treble with 19 or 20 gauge wire.... but on some pianos (eg Bechstein uprights), they can go up to 21 gauge.... roughly about 1.1mm diameter. You also must count every loop & single eyes.

There are no statistics for lots of piano, even with a serial number - no such thing as a 'blue book' with string gauges - don't exist.... you have to measure each and every string with micrometers (or string gauge slotted tool), then write down every loop/ single eye etc..... then everything tallies up with the bass. The bass string maker also needs to know the exact length of the winding/ hitch to winding/ internal hexachord diameter/ external windings diameter/ how many bi or tri chords and singles.... without this info - you are stuffed basically!

Good luck with that

[Barrie Heaton]

I have done some major restoration work on an old John Strohmneger and Sons baby grand piano, I removed all the strings without recording the string sizes. I need to order new strings. Does anyone have any information on the strings that might have been used so I can restring this piano? The serial number for that piano is 17124 (got the number on the sound board), the length is 62" and the width 58 3/4".

Even if you have keep the old strings it would be hard work working out the scale with out them in order

What you need is a string scaling program to calculate the string scale for you,like this one http://www.goptools.com/pscale.htm or contact a string maker and ask them to calculate it for you but you will have to take a lot of very precise measurements for them hope you have deep pockets you can try John Delacour

Delacour Piano Bass Strings
Deverel Farm
Milborne St. Andrew
Dorset DT11 0HX
Tel: 01202 731 031


Good luck

Barrie

[Colin Nicholson]

not sure if I can download this.... but here is a typical bass string rubbing.... taken from a bechstein upright I restrung last year. All the copper winding are projected onto the paper with a crayon.... and using course sandpaper, the bridge & hitch pins are poked through the paper by sanding the brown paper away. Rubbing must be fully secured with tape to stop it moving....

as illustrated, much easier to remove the keyboard bed/frame, and lie the piano on its back using a bench truck (if you have one!) - so it's like working on a table top.

bass string rubbing

bridge pin pattern

Colin

[Colin Nicholson]

You may have run a mile by now.... but a last suggestion, you never know.
When I destrung the Bechstein, as I started to vacuum and clean everything, I noticed some pencil markings on the inside wall (top) of the treble bridge (which was notched out for the break). Surprisingly, the markings were upside down, and corresponded to the string gauge numbers.... starting with gauge 14.... 6 tri-chords down from the top.

You never know, you may be lucky.... or like some Steinway grands, they often place tiny decal numbers within the tuning pins to show the gauge number, incase a string breaks.