I’ve had a couple of wire strings break these last few months. It’s been very unexpected as I haven’t noticed any signs of wear and the strings were never particularly out of tune. I was therefore wondering if anyone knew of any ‘obvious signs’ to look out for. I know that the gut strings tend to fray at the disk and produce a dull sound before they break. But I usually find myself jumping out of my skin in the middle of a piece as I push a pedal down and a wire string bangs! I am absolutely terrified of this happening in a concert!
I probably should consider changing the wire strings once a year, or at least with some sort of regularity so I don’t have strings exploding unexpectedly. Although, I don’t think my parents would let me…..harp strings are certainly not cheap!