Strip muting problem

[Michael Jorgensen]

Hi Brad,
    I believe firmly in finishing unisons as I go instead of strip
muting and tuning octaves first for the following reasons:  
1. Every check test becomes a test for the unisons also.
2. I cannot lie to myself about a unison being good if it's not when I'm
finished with it and get away with that.  This is because I will be
tuning and testing off of it later in the tuning.
3. Compounding of errors is mimimized, and can be used to the advantage
of the temperament.  Example would be if a fourth is .5 cents too wide,
that may be an acceptable error by itself, but add a unison with a .5
spread and you could have a 1 cent error. The temperament is thus
considered with its finished unisons (i.e. unisons can also be used to
improve that wide fourth)  Unisons will uncover peculiarities with the
temperament that are otherwised unnoticed.  It's good to find these
things right away before you build a whole pianos tuning on a crooked
foundation. 
4. ETD tuners tell me that a finished unison can show a slightly
different pitch that of the three strings tested alone.  The final total
sound of the unison is what counts, not the individual strings. 
5. False beats can be made to cancel each other out which may require
fudging.  This must be done while also considering the affect on
temperament.
6. Choose which ever string to tune first of a unison,  If one is false,
try a different one.
7. Finishing unisons provides additional test blows and other stresses
to the temperament octave early on in the process, which strengthens the
foundation for the entire tuning. Because I have a finished area, it is
a foundation for the rest of the tuning.
8. I am always working with a finished product so I can better gauge my
time and get a better feel for the kind of results the piano will
allow.  Finished unisons gives me a clear picture of how much stetch and
fudging I can really get away with.  If I end up running low on time, it
is the extreme ranges of the piano that will suffer which I view as less
important.- I expect flack on this one!
9.  Temperament strips add tension to the piano and to those who use
them, please depress the damper pedal, or damper felts will be
distroyed.
10.  The best overall test is the sound of the double octaves when the
piano is finished and I am conviced I get a better and clearer tuning
with more consistency of sound finishing unisons as I go.

-Mike Jorgensen RPT 
A devout unisonist.