Ho Hum, Pitch Raisens again

[Larry Fisher]

Hi all again,

Some one referred to them as pitch raisens the first time this subject was
covered and I thought that was a funny one, so my thanks to you (who ever
you is) for adding some more humor to my brain.  Life is good.

Yeah, ok, pitch raising again is being discussed, along with vertigris,
soundboard design, insults, long posts, repetition, and a host of other
goodies.  Frankly, I liked the early days of this list when some tech out of
SC wrote some pretty funny stuff about Phydioux, the leaky canine, making
brass castors turn green.  Always smell the floor before you crawl under a
grand!!  Then check the legs for strength.

OOOOOPs I seemed to have drifted a bit.  Must be the wind.

While a young and hardy soul (fool) living in the Wyoming tundra, I learned
to be COST EFFECTIVE!!  I developed the method of pitch raising and tuning
in one trip for a couple of reasons .....

A) I'm a long ways from the barn.  I took me hours and sometimes days to
travel this far, usually over windy, snowy, or icey roads, and I really
don't have the time to be coming back here in a few days, or weeks or a
month or two.  

B) I need to get this hummer in tune, pleasing the customer, reaching their
expectations, and by doing so, setting up the piano for the next guy, or
next tuning, or next trip to the area, which ever comes first.

C) the piano was designed for A440 or very close to that. (A436)  It should
be tuned to that.  I don't like tuning flat.  It requires too much
concentration for this strickly aural tuner.

D)  I need to make as much money as I can to cover the trip and expenses
with out going over board.  There's a balance between what the customer will
pay for, and what I will be able to sell them.

E)  The customer knows dang good and well, they've neglected the piano.  An
extra fee for the tuning is to be expected, although some whined about
having to pay mileage.  After all, they were only 300 miles from my home
(actual complaint).

So, now with all that said, here's what I came up with and have had nice
results.  Pull the entire piano up to pitch.  There's a number of ways to
accomplish this.  Mute the center section, tune as fast as you can every
middle string and don't dwell on any one note for more than three strikes.
Now pull the strip tuning as you go, pulliing each string up quick and
dirty.  This is not the time to be critical here.   You're just pulling
tension up on the plate, soundboard, strings, etc.  Now go south and go
north tuning octaves, quick and dirty, no mutes, listen carefully, move
right along and don't hit them any more than twice.  This process usually
takes me less than 10 minutes.  Now, if you need to, take a short break,
organize your tech case, blow your nose (uh, use a hanky, or tissue for
this, your sleeve is for wiping your mouth when eatiing), preen, primp,
check the oil, kick the castors, .......  then fine tune as you usually
would.  Usually an additional pass is required through the majority of the
piano since it will be quite wild and unstable.   By the time you're
finished, the piano will sound much nicer, and will stay in tune longer than
if you were to simply fine tune with out pre-tuning first.  The piano should
then be tuned again in anywhere from a month to 6 months depending on
climate and technique.   Around here in the GREAT Northwest, I've found that
a good vigorous tuning once a year is sufficient, but then we don't have the
indoor humidity swings that the upper Midwest has. 

Some points to remember .....

1)You must notify the piano owner prior to doing the pitch raise, the extra
expense.  Mention the word "neglect" somewhere in your sales pitch, along
with "the piano was designed for A440".

2) Mention the possibility of broken strings.  They most likely can't be
forcasted, and are usually centered on a particular string guage  (in the
treble).

3) Rotten strings all over the place means the piano must be restrung.  Have
this number ready to go when the customer asks, "How much is it to restring
my piano?".

4) You must mention the possibility of plate breakage, the rarity of the
event, and the piano's future if such an event occurs.

5) Mention the need for another tuning at a collective or figurative time
you decide is good.  This is a good time to mention that the piano will hold
a tuning better, longer and be more of a pleasure to play if they tune the
piano again with in that period of time you suggest.

6) The closer you get your pitch raise to the pitch you want the fine tuning
to be at, the more stable the fine tuning will be, and the easier it will be
on your arm, shoulder and ears.  Pulling beyond the designated pitch I don't
recommend.  It usually breaks strings where strings mayhaps wouldn't have
broken.

Lar

                                    Larry Fisher RPT
   specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
      phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
         http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
           Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water