[CAUT] huge pitch raise question

[Michelle Stranges]

Hi Don.

Well- if I have to put some words to my tuning style I would say  
"finesse-y jerk"

:D

I think you know what I mean.
There's certainly no outrageous see-saw-ing thing going on.

I'm seeing that all who have posted so far bring the piano up to  
pitch on the first go but I can help but think that if I started  
doing that and started to tune it again some strings might decide to  
break- for like I said it's usually on the second time around that it  
happens.
I feel something weird..- *extra* tork I guess after bringing it up a  
bunch. It's uncomfy.

I would assume it's added string tension of course, but is there  
something else going on?

:(
Michelle


On Jan 8, 2007, at 3:04 PM, Wigent, Donald E wrote:

> Dear Michelle, Don Wigent hear.  I raise pitch on pianos on a daily
> bases and almost never have a string breakage problem. I raise the  
> piano
> all the way the first pass, and a little more to compensate for  
> drop. I
> tune quickly but I would not say that I jerk the pins around.  I have
> heard some tuners move the string up and down and up and down in a
> radical fashion, but I don't think that that is what you do. I am not
> sure that that would cause a problem of string breakage; it might make
> the tuning les stable.  So I can't say what the problem is, however it
> is not from raising the piano to pitch in 1 pass. Tell us more please.
> Don			
> 	
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> Michelle Stranges
> Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 2:07 PM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: [CAUT] huge pitch raise question
>
> Hi folks-
>
> Happy New Year!
>
> :D
>
> It happens more often than I'd like (and once is enough to be honest)
> and while I "feel"  that it's not my lovely hammer technique ;)  ,
> maybe it's something to do with some sort of "string thing"..
>
> Has anyone else run across this?
> (Or maybe a PTG article I have overlooked?)
>
> Upon visiting a fairly new piano and finding it dreadfully flat (50
> cents or more) , I carefully yet quickly, raise it up at least half
> of what it was.
> And I do have a (good?) habit of initially moving the pin in the flat
> direction before moving it sharp in order to loosen any friction from
> any rust or whatever that may have accumulated. Just a *quick* jerk
> to the left- nothing serious at all.
>
> Now.. having raised the piano up (with a second pass to at least get
> it up to pitch) I start doing a "fine tuning".
>
> it is either at this second pass or my fine tuning where strings
> start to break.
> In the usual places too- nothing out of the ordinary.
>
> (Am I doing "too many tunings" (up to 3  times) to raise this
> completely up? Seems like that wouldn't be an issue,  especially if
> it's new(er)?
> Have I introduced some sort of unusual friction/heat or something??
>
>
> Now this doesn't happen all of the time, but I am acutely aware that
> it could and I wonder if there's something in my technique or my
> sequence of pitch raising that makes these newer strings break. (I
> could understand some strings breaking if the piano was older..)
>
> I know tuners who on the first go, bring the whole piano up tp pitch
> but I've always been a little leary of that.
> I'm wondering if they also have strings break on their second pass/
> fine tuning..
>
> I fully realize that they (the strings) are now at different spots on
> all of the contact and termination points so I would assume that
> would add to the puzzle.
> And I'd like to also add that it seems that the tork alone on this
> 1/2 way-to-pitch, pitch raised piano feels MUCH higher than it did
> before (and more than "normal") and I chalk that up to the higher
> tension I have just introduced.
>
> I am a jerk tuner.
>
> (Stop laughing  :)
>
> I would be VERY interested in viewing the number of passes you folks
> do to bring a  piano up to pitch and whether or not you've
> experienced this-especially on ones that aren't so old.
>
> Hope this post reads OK- and I look forward to your responses!
>
> :)
> Michelle
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