Whacking

[David Ilvedson]

I was referring to no one in particular and I don't keep up with who started threads, but I have read posts about pounding while tuning and I might ad if you need a whacker to tune you might? be pounding harder than necessary...

David Ilvedson, RPT


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 2/11/01 at 10:42 PM Farrell wrote:

>"Hitting the keys as hard as you can until the note won't drift means a
>total lack of hammer technique."
>
>You should go into politics. This is fiction. I have read all these posts,
>as I am the one who started it. Not one has described anything like the
>above.
>
>Terry Farrell
>Piano Tuning & Service
>Tampa, Florida
>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David Ilvedson" <ilvey@jps.net>
>To: "pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2001 9:17 PM
>Subject: Re: Whacking
>
>
>> The PTG Tuning test has a technique to test the stability of the unison
>portion of the test.  Maybe someone can post that exact info.  It is not
>whacking in any way...Tuning stability is a combination of good hammer
>technique and an adequate force to insure that a portion of the string
>segments isn't excessively different than other segments.  Equalizing of
>the
>segments is apparently not possible...Hitting the keys as hard as you can
>until the note won't drift means a total lack of hammer technique.  I do
>not
>whack anymore and my tunings stand up to concertos...The archives have lots
>of stuff on this subject.
>>
>> David I.
>>
>> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>>
>> On 2/11/01 at 8:18 PM Yardarm103669107@AOL.COM wrote:
>>
>> >Bill:
>> >While the pin might be very stable, the segments of string from the
>tuning
>> >pin on out to the waste length are under less and less tension if the
>> >pitch
>> >is being changed upward; the reverse is true in pitch lowering. The
>string
>> >system is unstable until an equalizing force is used to attempt to
>> >overcome
>> >friction at terminations and get the tension to equalize. I personally
>> >doubt
>> >that a string system left unaltered is stable enough to leave for very
>> >long.
>> >On the other hand, a stiff blow which is allowed to linger rather than
>> >stacato damped will go a long distance in stabilizing the string system.
>> >Overhard blows can indeed destabilize the system in the reverse
>direction.
>> >
>> >A good test of this phenomenon is to try this. The next time you have to
>> >raise the pitch on a piano more than 20 cents, pick a string in the
>middle
>> >register and after pulling it up to where you want, take a brass punch
>and
>> >give the waste length of string on the other side of the bridge a tap in
>> >the
>> >opposite direction of the bridge pin, i.e. as if you were unseating the
>> >string; you will immediately notice a drop in pitch in the singing
>length
>> >as
>> >tension is released around the bridge. If you did not give the string a
>> >stiff
>> >blow to equalize out tension, then that residual unequal tension would
>> >gradually detune the piano. More thoughts? Is this clear? Again, I'm not
>> >advocating damaging blows (either to the piano or to self).
>> >PR-J
>>
>>
>>
>>