My tuner says he can't replace my broken Young Chang strings...

[johnnysimz]

1st post on these forums though I've been scouring them for months and months. So I'm gonna take also the time here to give my gratitude to this fabulous projects which has been Pianostreet.com.

And now my little problem.

I've had a string from piano break twice in the last 6 months. Worst, it was the two individual strings of the same D#. Called in my tuner and he called in the string those two times. What bugs me is that he changed the Young CHang strings with Yamaha's. He explained himself by telling me that my Young CHang's piano strings are discontinued. I kinda frowned but accepted the situation. But now I broke another string, another D# but on the lower octave (so much for my Etude in D# minor op 8 no 12 from Scriabin   ). Basically my D# octave are gonna sound like sh*t compared to the other strings and the tuner makes it seem like its impossible to find strings with the same color (so much difference between the Yamaha string I got and Young Chang string that we're there before). Basically I'm starting to consider that my problem may be that of an unressourceful tuner.

Any comments? Is it really possible not to find proper strings with the good sound?
Thanks in advance

[silverwoodpianos]

I suspect we are referring to bass strings, not treble wire. In any case, treble wire and properly fitting bass strings are readily available from the supply houses at any time.

For bass strings, most technicians do not have a winder…… the measurements of the hitch pin to bridge pin, and then the length of the copper wrap are sent in for reproduction to one of the supply houses.

Usually takes a couple of weeks for a return parcel. With bass strings it is always best to replace both of them if one breaks. This way they both are the same diameter and will sound the same.

While this process is going on I sometime use the universal bass strings as a temporary…….

The Yamaha string broke most likely because it was retrofitted into the wrong area of the scale. Just a guess there…..

If the bass strings are breaking again after proper fitted replacements then your hammers are hard and require service.(voicing)

Replacement strings will not match the colour of the rest of the original strings.

[keys60]

Sounds like the 2 D#'s that broke on the same note are treble wire. On trichords (3 strings per note) is one strand of wire that goes from one tuning pin, down to the hitch pin and back up to another tuning pin. Did  you ask your tech if he can splice the broken strings? That's the better choice if you don't want the glaring sound of a new string installed. Either that, or he can just have the string sent out duplicated at Mapes strings (if you are in the US) and you will have to wait for it to come back. The cost of 1` bass string is not a lot. Maybe 30-40 bucks or so and less if you were to purchase a whole set.

[jimbo320]

You probably should look into replacing all the strings. In the proper way of course. May I suggest Mapes Co. in Elizabethton, TN for strings.
If not your tech should be able to get them...

[pianolive]

Your strings can be dublicated without problems by a stringmaker. Ask around for the best in your country or contact www.hellerbass.de

As mentioned, have your hammers checked. If they are played a lot and the top of the hammers flat you should get new hammers installed. Hammers are like tyres on your car, you must change them regularly depending on how much and how they are used. Get a set of high quality hammers instead of Young Chang hammers which are hard as rocks, impossible to voice.
Some pianomakers say that the quality of the hammerfelt stands for 25 % of the sound quality in the piano, so there are very good reasons to get new ones.

[keys60]

Sorry I forgot to ask.....how old is your Young Chang?

[johnnysimz]

Thanks for all the answers people.

My Young-Chang is close to 20 years old if I remember right, not quite but getting there. It's a U-131 if I remember right. It stayed a good 6 years without being used b4 I started to use it again regularly since 2 years. I have a hunch my hammers are hard after reading what pianolive wrote. I know I used those 2 lower D# hammers quite a lot because I love Etude in D# minor from scriabin and play it everyday.

Ill check also for www.hellerbass.de.

Thanks again for the help guys!

[keys60]

Could be your hammers are hard or check for rust up around the coils on the tuning pins. Could be a combination of either and you're playing a bit hard. You can't get more out of a piano once you've reached its limits.

[steinway_d]

1st post on these forums though I've been scouring them for months and months. So I'm gonna take also the time here to give my gratitude to this fabulous projects which has been Pianostreet.com.

And now my little problem.

I've had a string from piano break twice in the last 6 months. Worst, it was the two individual strings of the same D#. Called in my tuner and he called in the string those two times. What bugs me is that he changed the Young CHang strings with Yamaha's. He explained himself by telling me that my Young CHang's piano strings are discontinued. I kinda frowned but accepted the situation. But now I broke another string, another D# but on the lower octave (so much for my Etude in D# minor op 8 no 12 from Scriabin   ). Basically my D# octave are gonna sound like sh*t compared to the other strings and the tuner makes it seem like its impossible to find strings with the same color (so much difference between the Yamaha string I got and Young Chang string that we're there before). Basically I'm starting to consider that my problem may be that of an unressourceful tuner.

Any comments? Is it really possible not to find proper strings with the good sound?
Thanks in advance

I agree with @silverwoodpianos.
What model of Young Chang do you have?

steinway_d
_________________________________________________________________________________

"Steinway's are good,
 Boston's    are good,
and Essex'  are Okay."

-steinway_d

[keys60]

IMHO
Steinways are great
Bostons are ok
Essex not my cup of tea

[johnnysimz]

I'm back from vacation and was away from my piano.
To answer your question my piano is a Young Chang U-131.
I still haven't decided what to do. Still haven't talked to the tuner. I've stopped playing the etude for the moment and play lighter content for the moment. I'm probably call a few tuners and see which one could do with Hellerbess or Mapes String. Honestly that's just part of the problem. I'm on thight budget and to worsen the case the piano is STILL in the basement even after a zillion mental checknotes from my part to plan the moving. I'm gonna have to move first and then change the string (maybe the other D# that was already changed also) and finish with a few tunings. I think that may be the best solution at long term for my instrument.
Thanks again for the help all.