Different Pitch Raising Sequence

[Stephen Airy]

I'm still new to piano tuning (and learning some things).  I recently was 
given a Ricca & Son upright empty player piano made in 1913.  It was 100 
cents flat when I got it, and I raised the pitch without any strings 
breaking.  I still didn't know much abouth how to do overpull, so when I 
got done, the high treble was around 20-30 cents flat.  A couple tunings 
later, it seems to be stable, but I managed to break a B27 wound string 
just by brushing my hand by it near the hitch pin (I was doing something in 
the bottom of the piano -- I forget what it was now).

At 10:02 PM 12/12/00 -0500, you wrote:
>When raising pitch on any piano in the past I have used my SAT in the manner
>described in the SAT manual - A0 to C88 (I always do unisons as I go). When
>raising pitch on an old piano where string breakage is a real concern, I
>have been additionally concerned because the hi treble is usually the region
>of greatest string breakage potential. Especially because when going A0 to
>C88 - lets say on a piano that was originally 100 cents flat - by the time
>you get to C88, it is now 130 cents (or so) flat - thus increasing the need
>for overpull and risk of breaking.
>
>Today I raised pitch on a 1914 Lester upright. It started out at 100 cents
>flat. There were several broken strings in the top half-octave. Clearly,
>there was some question whether the piano was going to take A440 with all
>strings intact. I hate the thought of starting in the bass (no overpull of
>course - just to pitch), going through the whole piano, just to find out
>that strings start breaking at G6.
>
>So what I did was start at C88 (figuring if they break here, I can stop
>right away!), just pulling up to target pitch - no overpull (in this case I
>just used a generic tuning - a 52" Baldwin tuning). I went through the
>treble (C88 to G5) backwards like this, then did the bass (second most
>likely area for strings to break). No broken strings. I assumed at that
>point the piano would do fine at A440. I completed the tenor to pitch, did
>one more pass on the treble (G5 & up) with just a 4 cent positive pitch
>reset (did my FAC at this point and looked at a few Double Octave Beats),
>then went through the whole piano from A0 to C88 using the SAT in
>pitch-raise mode with appropriate overpulls.
>
>Using this sequence, I feel that I found out whether the piano would go to
>A440 very early in the process. A minimal amount of pitch change occurred in
>the hi treble (thus minimizing string break potential). The hi treble was
>not ever lowered artificially in pitch prior to raising, and minimum
>overpull was used (the last pass with overpull saw the hi-treble start out
>around 5 to 10 cents flat). No part of the piano was more than about 15
>cents flat (tenor area) when overpull was used. A total of 2-1/3 passes
>resulted in the piano with a cent or two (well, maybe three or four on a few
>notes!) of desired pitch. One more pass for a good tuning.
>
>Seems to me this is a good way to approach the piano with an elevated
>potential for popping strings during a pitch raise. Any thoughts? Are there
>any procedures that others have found to be valuable?
>
>Terry Farrell
>Piano Tuning & Service
>Tampa, Florida
>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com


_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com