In a message dated 10/14/98 3:00:28 PM Central Daylight Time, tito@peganet.com writes: << .i am normally NOT as conservative as some may think I am regarding PR..i do them all the time, being the new guy and all..this one simply caused me to take a step backwards and think very carefully about what would be happening to the piano with all the increased tension.. >> You don't usually have to be concerned about structural damage but it is a matter of concern in certain rare cases and the notorious "birdcage" action pianos are one of them. The only concern I usually have about just "hot-doggin' " the piano up to pitch (meaning quickly and all the way plus overpull compensation) is string breakage. As Clyde mentioned recently, I really hate to hear those strings break. While I would have no worry about string breakage in a relatively new or restrung piano (although it is possible at any time, even when not raising pitch and even while lowering it, believe it or not), I hesitate to just go right for it in an old piano. Also, there are certain makes of console pianos made in the 1950s through the 1970s that will respond to your best intentions with a very disconcerting *BANG!* if you go too quickly, too hard and too fast. I am often called by new customers who have an old upright with no known history of maintenance. They often say that other tuners they have called say that *most* of them are untunable. I usually accept the job and really only occasionally find a piano I cannot work with. I then spend enough time to explain and document the reasons why so that I can at least earn a service call fee of 1/2 my usual tuning fee. I usually make recommendations on how to get rid of the old one and acquire a replacement. About a year and a half ago, I accepted a job in a small town where I go several times a year to tune the school pianos and local private customers. The old upright piano was 150¢ flat and there was enough lost motion to make the hammers "bobble" (false repetitive striking). It played and sounded very poorly. I checked out the soundboard and bridges and found them perfectly intact. There was no separation in the pinblock. The plate bolts I could reach were all but entirely snug. I tried adjusting the capstan of one key and found that it brought a suitable amount of after touch, proper blow distance and damper lift. I struggled through the first pitch raise to -50¢. Slowly and carefully I raised each string a full half step. Then I vacuumed and lubed the keybed, gave each key a rough half turn counter-clockwise on the capstan as I put it back in then fine adjusted each key with another crank or two. I continued by raising each string to Standard Pitch. The next rough tuning was the usual calculated overpull with the piano now 10-20¢ flat. The final tuning was quick and easy at Standard Pitch. The customer was no less than thrilled at the way the piano sounded. I, myself really was quite pleased and even impressed with the way the piano actually sounded. The wear on the hammers was quite moderate so the tone was still quite good. In the end, I told the customer that in my opinion, the sound was almost good enough to be used in a professional situation, a performance or a recording. I still only spent about 2 hours, so I charged twice my usual tuning fee plus a small amount for the lubricant I used, plus the sales tax. She handed me two crisp $100 bills and said, "Keep the change, what I'm paying is far less than anyone else quoted over the phone". (I only quoted my usual tuning fee and said that I would discuss it with her before starting if the fee would be higher). It was for this reason primarily that I entered and remained in this profession. The gratification that comes with a customer who is pleased beyond expectations and payment in cash upon completion of work. As they say in Milwaukee, "It doesn't get any better than this". I haven't heard from that customer again yet but the way it usually goes with these kinds of circumstances is that "no news is good news". It may be 3 to 5 years before I am called back but I would expect the piano to be nearly at pitch and to only need the kind of tuning that I can get done in about 45 minutes or less. I would like to reiterate that if you find most any piano more than a half step low and especially if it is chaotically out of tune, you should at least suspect and check for some kind of structural failure. If there is significant failure, you should not try to raise the pitch against it. This probably will contribute to the failure and most certainly will be unstable. Very old square grands and other antique pianos found in historic homes, places or museums should be very carefully assessed before any "hot dog" pitch raises are done. There was a very well respected piano tuner who lived in Madison until age 96. He still tuned up to age 92. He was known to have remarked to a customer who had a "birdcage " action piano that was reportedly a minor 3rd low in pitch when questioned about the issue of pitch, "What do you want, ma'am, music or trouble?" Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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