Hello Ed,
On 5/19/09 you observed this about the Yamaha U-1:
“The result was that the strings render very easily, and don't offer much friction to help stabilize the pitch.”
It was difficult to respond to the query about experimenting with the pressure bar. I don’t know a lot about your tuning experience, but I find that generally, this is my experience with the U-1 across the board. I’ve tuned quite a few. I do not see it as a design flaw. The made in USA P-22’s tend to be tighter, though built in the south. However, I still encounter the same general characteristics I attribute to Yamaha and the U-1 when considering other manufacturers with the USA P-22. I could not ascertain where these “grey market” pianos got built you mentioned.
The climate of Japan is described like this at Wikipedia:
The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate>, but varies greatly from north to south.[46]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#cite_note-climate-45> Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones:
· Hokkaidō<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaid%C5%8D>: The northernmost zone has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(meteorology)> is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow banks in the winter.
· Sea of Japan<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Japan>: On Honshū's west coast, the northwest wind in the wintertime brings heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures, because of the foehn wind<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foehn_wind> phenomenon.
· Central Highland<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Highland_(Japan)>: A typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night. Precipitation is light.
· Seto Inland Sea<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Sea>: The mountains of the Chūgoku<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABgoku_region> and Shikoku<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku> regions shelter the region from the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the year.
· Pacific Ocean<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean>: The east coast experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind.
· Ryukyu Islands<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyu_Islands>: The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. Typhoons<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone> are common.
The highest temperature ever measured in Japan — 40.9 °C (105.6 °F) — was recorded on August 16, 2007.[47]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#cite_note-46>
The main rainy season<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_rainy_season> begins in early May in Okinawa, and the stationary rain front responsible for this gradually works its way north until it dissipates in northern Japan before reaching Hokkaidō in late July. In most of Honshū, the rainy season begins before the middle of June and lasts about six weeks. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.[46]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#cite_note-climate-45>
Japan is home to nine forest ecoregions<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecoregions_in_Japan> which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_and_subtropical_moist_broadleaf_forests> in the Ryūkyū and Bonin islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_broadleaf_and_mixed_forests> in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_coniferous_forest> in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands.[48]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#cite_note-47>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
The Yamaha obviously is designed for exposure to a good deal of humidity and fluctuation as well. Ever tune one in Japan? Maybe they are tighter there. I do not consider the easy rendering from Yamaha a design flaw, though something exceptional could be wrong with your piano. I conjecture that Yamaha had something in mind that required more frequent, less difficult, quicker tuning. That is my experience. Tell me if I am wrong Yamaha or other please.
Yamaha is a finished piano out of the factory by enlarge, I think. I would be surprised if the pressure bar needed tightening.
I never did Yamaha Schoolhouse, but concluded Yamaha has a different production model in mind than Steinway with the 1098. Even with plate bushings in a similar environment, the Baldwin Hamilton provided me with something I needed to set different goals for, impervious to climate change in comparison to the U-1.
You probably know more about tuning technique than what would enable me to make suggestions or add anything particularly enlightening. The Mannino term, “springing” the pin, though not impressive an invention as his “Flange Bushing Broach Kit,” is particularly applicable when tuning a U-1 I think, though my assumption is that you know this. Stay away from 3:00 right handed, 9:00 left, 1:30, 10:30 will reduce the jump, isn’t this what Levitan observed in his recent articles on tuning technique from the Journal? Even though 12:00 is best, if memory serves correctly. I do not want to attribute anything to Levitan that is not his idea.
It would be interesting to know if I am wrong. Let me know how tightening the pressure bar works out if you do it; I am curious.
I gotta get back to work.
- Ben
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ed Sutton
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 7:00 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: [CAUT] U-1 string rendering and stability
Yesterday I tuned two grey market U-1s which a school bought for use in small teaching studios.
I noted a difficulty I sometimes have getting a stable unison with notes in the U-1 treble, particularly octave 5.
The tuning pins were holding, but not with a lot to spare, and the pressure bar was not very low. The result was that the strings render very easily, and don't offer much friction to help stabilize the pitch. Add to this the low torque pins, and some of the notes tend to jump back and forth on the slightest touch of the tuning pin, 4 beats sharp, 5 beats flat, 2 beats sharp, 4 beats flat, and so on. (This is the opposite of the tuning problems in a typical 1990's Steinway vertical.)
I am curious if anyone has tried tightening the pressure bar in a U-1 with this condition, and if it has made tuning less tedious in the treble.
Ed Sutton
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