[CAUT] huge pitch raise question

[Jeff Tanner]

On Jan 8, 2007, at 2:06 PM, Michelle Stranges wrote:

> 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.

I take smaller increments with pianos older than say 35 or 40 years.   
I don't like to move them more than 40 or 50 cents at the time, so I  
will choose a target pitch I think the piano can handle.  A lot of  
times, my target is pulling everything up to the highest point -  
which is usually a note somewhere in the bass.  The older they are, I  
might make smaller increments as I get closer to 440.  I just don't  
like to make big uneven changes to the overall tension of the  
structure on older pianos.  A more conservative first pass also seems  
to give me an indication of the condition of the wire, and what the  
piano is capable of.  But with "newer" pianos I'll target the pitch  
at 440 on the first pass.

With raises of more than 40 cents, I'll make my first pass just to my  
target pitch.  I don't like to have large overpulls.  I use the pitch  
raise function on the second pass.  The overpull will then be much  
smaller and more uniform.  I will make a third pass if needed.

Like Ed, I make it very clear to the customer a pitch raise isn't  
likely to last very long, and it can take several tunings to  
establish stability.  I just recently came up with a new analogy --  
filling the gas tank on your car.  If you keep it topped off, it is  
always ready to go anywhere with smaller more frequent incremental  
costs.  If you wait until the tank is empty and need to fill it up  
for a trip, that fill-up is going to cost a lot more.  Unfortunately,  
too many piano owners approach piano maintenance like I approach my  
gas tank.  I wait until it is empty, but rarely ever completely fill  
it up.

I am a smooth pull tuner.  With my gentle pressure pull-push, I can  
feel every movement the pin makes.  I've tried jerk tuning, and don't  
feel in control.

I have very rarely broken a string while tuning - maybe one every  
year or so.  And yes, it has happened on the fine tuning pass after a  
pitch adjustment, but usually on old or cheap pianos.  And it has  
also happened on a brand new Steinway L that was at pitch.  I don't  
recall a string having broken on the pitch raise pass, but it's  
probably happened.  I haven't kept records, but if I had to say, the  
strings I've broken while tuning would have less to do with pitch  
raise or tuning technique than wire condition, or in the case of bass  
strings, the angle of the wire coming off the coil.  I read something  
once, perhaps on this list, an old "rule of thumb" of who is at fault  
with broken strings, perhaps attributed to Baldwin?  It said that if  
the string breaks at the capo, the piano is at fault, if it breaks at  
the coil, the tuner is to blame.  But I don't necessarily buy that  
either.

Jeff


Jeff Tanner, RPT
University of South Carolina



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20070108/5d290bde/attachment.html