Piano Forum

Topic: <<<Clean string>>>  (Read 9144 times)

Offline tomer6382

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 15
<<<Clean string>>>
on: April 01, 2005, 05:34:42 PM
 :) hey!
i wanna clean the strings of my piano coze the color of the strings are dimming.
how to clean? it's could improve the sound of my piano? ::)

i have upright piano
russian piano "red october"
 ;)
thanks
tomer
 :D

Offline pianonut

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1618
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #1 on: April 01, 2005, 05:40:21 PM
you mean you play on a submarine?  you're crazier than i am.
do you know why benches fall apart?  it is because they have lids with little tiny hinges so you can store music inside them.  hint:  buy a bench that does not hinge.  buy it for sturdiness.

Offline Axtremus

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 507
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #2 on: April 01, 2005, 05:43:13 PM
Wow! Red October! I've read about Red October pianos but have never actually seen or heard one for real. I know nothing about cleaning the strings (sorry!), but would you mind telling me how old your piano is (are you in Russia?),  and if new Red October pianos are still being produced today? Thanks.

Offline tomer6382

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 15
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #3 on: April 01, 2005, 06:09:54 PM
only for you... a record of my piano! "red october"  :D
it's an mp3 format stereo high quality:
https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher449731.mp3  8)

a picture will be soon.. but tell me... whay people love so much this piano? you are not the only one...  :)

Don't forget my question about clean strings...  ;D

Thanks
tomer.

Offline tomer6382

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 15
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #4 on: April 01, 2005, 09:14:10 PM
Does anybody know of a way to clean piano strings and if it helps the
piano regain some life?  I have asked piano tuners but always get vague
answers.

It seems to me that dust and corrosion on a string would not allow the
string to sound the same as a clean new string.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Offline Axtremus

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 507
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #5 on: April 01, 2005, 10:45:08 PM
tomer,

Cleaning strings: I've read about rubbing out rust from strings or make the strings look shinier by rubbing fine steel wool on the strings. But I'm not sure if this is something that should be attempted by a lay person. What if you rub too much and the string became too thin and too brittle? What other bad things might happen if a portion of a string becomes thinner than the rest of a string? Would it sound even worse? It might even break for all I know. (Sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, so what little I know about rubbing steel wool to clean strings would fall into this "a little knowledge" category. I certainly would not attempt that myself. I strongly suspect there is much more to proper string cleaning.)

Thank you very much for your recording. The mid-range sounds pretty nice!

To be honest, I niether love nor hate Red October pianos -- I have no knowledge of them except through what I read, and, I mean no offense, most of what I've read about Red October pianos are not that flattering. I'm glad that now at least I've heard of a recording mic'ed off a Red October piano. Would you mind telling me how tall and how old your piano is? Thanks. :)

Offline donjuan

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3139
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #6 on: April 01, 2005, 10:48:23 PM
only for you... a record of my piano! "red october"  :D
it's an mp3 format stereo high quality:
https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher449731.mp3  8)

a picture will be soon.. but tell me... whay people love so much this piano? you are not the only one...  :)

Don't forget my question about clean strings...  ;D

Thanks
tomer.
hey, where did you get the sheetmusic for the kill bill music?  I was looking everywhere for it!
thanks,
donjuan

Offline tomer6382

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 15
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #7 on: April 02, 2005, 09:13:38 AM
Here other high quality records: ;)

https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher449489.mp3

https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher449730.mp3

https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher449491.mp3

https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher449273.mp3

https://stage.co.il/media/tomerflysher4151651.mp3


How old my piano? maybe 15-25 nobody know... :P i didn't find the website for the age with serial number  :-\. my piano have new design ;D.

about the quesion from where my music-sheet to all this records? it's by Midi file and a special software, so i can the export music-sheet from any song that in Midi (i'm not limit, coze ther is Midi file to any song in the world with this site www.vanbasco.com). 8)

if you wanna know the way to convert Midi to Music-sheet, just contect me with:
icq: 202220144    or:
messenger: sarart@walla.co.il
and for other great free-music-sheet web-sites.
i will upload the all information in the futher to the forum... but i don't know when coze i need a time but now you can contect me. :D

Tomer.

Offline faulty_damper

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3929
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #8 on: April 02, 2005, 09:48:59 AM
There is this "eraser"-like thing that is used to remove the rust on strings.  I can't remember what it is called but I have one.  You rub it on the strings and it removes the rust but the "eraser" comes off like an eraser so it can be a bit messy.  Be prepared to vacuum.

Offline tomer6382

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 15
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #9 on: April 02, 2005, 11:15:07 AM
do you know a way to clean pedals?

Offline pianonut

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1618
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #10 on: April 02, 2005, 11:51:48 AM
for the pedals use some brasso or just soap and water.  usually the lightest method on every part of the piano is better than using a brillo pad on everything.  try a swiffer for the strings.  or lightly vaccuming it with a hand held.  put the lid down when you are done practicing.
do you know why benches fall apart?  it is because they have lids with little tiny hinges so you can store music inside them.  hint:  buy a bench that does not hinge.  buy it for sturdiness.

Offline chickering9

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 150
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #11 on: April 02, 2005, 01:04:56 PM
...Cleaning strings: I've read about rubbing out rust from strings or make the strings look shinier by rubbing fine steel wool on the strings. But I'm not sure if this is something that should be attempted by a lay person. What if you rub too much and the string became too thin and too brittle?...

Piano steel wire is way tougher than the steel in steel wool.  But steel wool is tougher than ordinary rust.  Nodes of rust on strings can cause "false beats", probably by acting as impediments to the frequency of vibration along a string's length.  The finest 0000 steel wool will do a good job of cleaning up all but the worst strings and the undermost surface.  But steel wool is brittle and little bits will break off the pad so some care should be taken to either pull  or cover the action so those bits don't fall onto the hammer felt and thorough clean up after is necessary.  Even those small residual fibers can be heard on a soundboard if they are not cleaned up and I wouldn't want to hear the result of steel fibers in the hammer felt.  And even if you choose to clean the strings up, the portion underneath the over-strung copper wires are not reachable usually.  I would *NEVER* use anything on the wound strings like steel wool or any kind of chemical.  I do periodically use a rag impregnated with diamond dust to give them only very light going over, which is enough to keep them looking like a new penny and doesn't leave a residue or impact the sound.  It's not really a sound thing, but merely cosmetic.   But on the steel strings, nodes of rust might be more than cosmetic and elimination of false beats by cleaning might be somewhat audible.

I use the same diamond-dust cloth to polish the brass nosebolts, brass "short stick", pedals and castors.  I don't know where you get one these days.  I've had the same cloth for 30 years.  I think they're made for polishing fine jewelry, so jewelers might know where to get them.

Offline Axtremus

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 507
Re: <<<Clean string>>>
Reply #12 on: April 02, 2005, 01:25:31 PM
Chickering9, that's an informative post. Thanks!
For more information about this topic, click search below!

Piano Street Magazine:
The World of Piano Competitions – issue 1 2024

The World of Piano Competitions is a magazine initiated by PIANIST Magazine (Netherlands and Germany) and its Editor-in-Chief Eric Schoones. Here we get a rich insight into the world of international piano competitions through the eyes of its producers and participants. Read more
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert