Korean "Samick" pianos

[FirTree@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-01-02 22:07:22 EST, you write:

>Is anyone esle having trouble keeping these things in tune? I have
>many customers with brands made by Samick and a dealer I do some work
>for who just took on the Kohler & Campbell line. I think virtually
>every one of these things has difficulty staying in tune. Of all my
>other customers it is extreemly rare that I ever hear of them going
>out of tune wihtin what is considered a normal time frame. I have
>tried many different things in prepping the pianos before tuning and
>am doing more than I ever do on other instruments to "settle" the
>string while tuning. I always seem to be aurraly very tired after
>leaving one of these appointments. The area techs I have talked to
>also seem to have the same problem but noone seems to have any
>solutions that we all haven't tried yet. Would any of you like to
>comment or offer any ideas?
>                 Greg Newell

Most of the Samicks I have tuned respond best by beating the cheese out of
each and every note as I tune, particularly in the treble. After the first,
much longer than normal tuning, they hold a bit better, but I find it takes 3
or 4 good tunings to start them on the way to stability. It's a bit easier
here in western Washington, where the humidity is fairly consistent. When
working on a piano someone else has tuned, I've pounded a few treble notes to
see if they were 'pre-pounded'. If they move much, I treat it as if it were
straight out of the box. I would agree with you about being tired, they are
so bright, noisy, and the pins are so tight it almost makes me wish for
another line of work. Then I get to a Yamaha console I've tuned several
times, breeze through the piano, and wonder why I don't tune a couple more
pianos a day. Go figure.

Dave Stocker, RPT
firtree@aol.com
Tumwater, WA