Friends, I'd like to take this discussion a different direction. As I admitted recently, I am a left-handed tuner. When I am tuning a grand piano, my preferred position of the tuning hammer is about 5:00, which brings the handle out over the front top edge of the grand piano. On verticals I use a 1 1/2" tuning lever head whenever possible, but I also carry a 3" head which I use on grands and sometimes on verticals where the short head won't work. But even that doesn't work on a 1993 Kawai GM-1 grand. That front piece (front beam, stretcher?) is simply too high. Positioning the hammer at 3:00 would have worked, I suppose, but the twist in my back felt uncomfortable at best and unhealthy at worst. I found out that piece was purely cosmetic and by removing four screws the whole thing simply lifted off, so that's what I've been doing with that piano ever since. I told the client what she needs is a right-handed tuner, but chances are she'll stick with me. I think she likes me (in a strictly platonic way -- now don't go getting the wrong idea). Somewhere along the line I picked up the idea that the shorter the tuning lever head, the better, so I am hesitant to buy a 4", 5" or 6" head, especially when I need it for only one piano. Advice, anyone? Regards, Clyde Hollinger, RPT Lititz, PA, USA kam544@flash.net wrote: > However, my weapon of choice is a 6 1/2" tuning lever head & tip I put on > for situations where space is at a premium. Have dealt with this for years > at the university I service, as well as a few other choice locations. > Clears all grand rims to date. > > Cheers, > > Keith McGavern
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