>I would appreciate knowing what some of you other tuners think about >pounding a piano hard vs soft pounding. One tuner I know pounds pianos >really hard and his tunings tend to be very stable and long lasting. >But I have also heard other tuners say that pounding hard during the >tuning process is not good. Any thoughts on this? >Thanks, >Jim Turner Open can of worms time! James, I'm still green so take this for what it's worth. It would seem to me that every piano will act differently when it comes to tuning. Many factors will affect the stability of the tuning. String bearing point friction is what I believe affects what we're talking about here. If in setting the pin there is more or less tension left in any portion of the string, rather than EQUAL tension from pin to hitch pin, a moderate blow will equalize it and the resultant pitch settle lower. A soft blow probably will not. The tuners who can tune with soft blows only, have developed a technique in which they know just how sharp to leave the note so that when string tension is equal across the entire length of the string (when customer does their favorite ff song) the note gently falls into perfect tune. I'm not that good so I use moderate blows. I use earplugs for most of it. I don't believe it is possible to leave the piano exactly on pitch and expect it to stay there if tuning with only soft blows. I'm sure I'll be corrected! Glenn.
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC