"elasticity"

[Z! Reinhardt]

Hi John!

How well is the piano holding pitch at A=440?  Just curious.

ZR!  RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net

----------
> From: John R Fortiner <pianoserv440@juno.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: "elasticity"
> Date: Sunday, March 01, 1998 5:13 PM
> 
> Dear List:
> 	Last week I was called upon to tune a P S Wicks upright that
> measured about 155c low.  ( That 155 is not a typographical error).   I
> told the piano's owner that the safest process would be to bring it up
> about 50c at a time ( pitch raising, not taking the time to "tune" at
> each level) so that if more than a few  wires did break that we would not
> be in a situation where the piano could not be put in tune with itself
> fairly easily.  I explained to her that I simply did not want her to end
> up with a piano that couldn't be played without a restringing job -
> therefore take it a little at a time in order to be able to determine at
> what pitch level the piano could be tuned. BTW she estimates that the
> piano had not been tuned for 35-40 years.
> Anyway -----------------  On the first raise to about -100c the wires
> felt fairly elastic - not really brittle - but not as elastic as I would
> have liked to have felt.  On the second raise to about -50c the wire felt
> more elastic by quite a bit.  As if that was not enough on the third
> raise to about A440 the wire felt even more elastic - almost like new
> wire.  I tuned the piano to A440 with no wires breaking - much to my
> customer's joy -( and mine also for that matter.)
> Why, I ask you, would the wire have felt more elastic as the piano
> approached standard pitch?  I can't figure this out as most of the
> piano's that I have had to do major raises on have felt a little less
> elastic as they approached standard pitch.  Your explanations(s) will be
> welcomed by this inquisitive tech.
> 
>                                                                          
>   Thanks in advance:
>                                                                          
>    John R. Fortiner
>                                                                          
>    e-mail: jfortiner@juno.com
> 
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