AB Chase Sostonuto question

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

Maybe fishing line would be tougher without adding noise?

Andrew

At 10:13 PM 10/3/2007, you wrote:
>Greetings all --
>
>I serviced a 93 year old A. B. Chase upright this afternoon. I was 
>told that it was over three years since it was last serviced. 
>Surprisingly, I found it pretty much at pitch. Hammers a little more 
>worn than I would have liked but all still serviceable. Dampers a 
>little squished but not yet hard. And in need of some tender 
>regulation. When I finished tuning it I was really amazed at how 
>good this piano still sounds. It has been in this family for over 50 
>years and they have never done anything to it but have it tuned so 
>I'm guessing it's all original parts. The action was even designed 
>to compensate the lost motion when the soft pedal is used. Very 
>nice. Anyway, why am I posting? The middle pedal on this piano is a 
>sostonuto, and it's not working. I found that the sostonuto design 
>featured a thick cotton thread, (just under 1mm thick), that got 
>lifted up in order to catch the tabs on the dampers. This thread was 
>broken at every tie point and so the sostonuto no longer works. 
>Today's question: What would you recommend I replace this thread 
>with? I thought of using a piece of piano wire but second guessed it 
>on account of if that had been a good idea than why didn't the 
>manufacturer do the same thing.
>
>Ideas?
>
>-- Geoff Sykes
>-- Los Angeles

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