Chipping )was: String rollers)

[John Musselwhite]

At 12:29 PM 10/4/01 -0400, Terry wrote:

>Just what the heck is chipping? Rough tuning while plucking? Is there
>something inherently different about bringing a freshly strung piano up to
>pitch and in rough tune than doing a several-step pitch-raise?

I believe there is. To illustrate the difference for me, this is what I do 
when chipping a freshly strung piano, which I do about once a month or so. 
I use the SAT with a little battery-powered Radio Shack speaker plugged 
into it and just use the tone from the fourth octave's notes to set all the 
octaves. First, I put a little tension on it by lining up the beckets so 
they're as neat as possible.  Then I start at A4 with my 3-inch long 
hardwood pick/chip, pulling up string pairs evenly with no overpull keeping 
the beckets aligned, and work by octaves first down, then up then back 
down, again watching the beckets. I then tune the A#s the same way, then 
down to the G#s, working my way up and down the keyboard. After the first 
pass I lightly tap down hitch pins and coils with a brass punch and squeeze 
the strings slightly (with non-serrated duck bills) at the hitch pins. Then 
I double-check the paper pattern for the treble if there is one to make 
sure it still matches the original rubbing and tap any strings that are out 
of alignment back into place.

Then I do a second pass with no overpull except in the high treble, again 
keeping an eye on the beckets, though they're usually still pretty 
good.  Once the dampers and action are in I go over it from A0 to C8 with a 
similar "generic" tuning stored in the SAT. I don't use any more overpull 
than I'd use on a regular tuning to minimize string necking. After it's 
rough regulated, I do it again, then again before it's voiced and once more 
when it's finished.

I've found this method stabilizes the instrument quickly without overtaxing 
any of the structure. It also saves me the wrath of the rebuilder who was 
careful in getting the beckets aligned when he was stringing it!  B-})

Oh... in keeping with the subject line, I have my English grandfather's 
roller but I don't use it.  I have rubbed high treble strings gently with a 
hammershank when needed though.

>What is the
>difference between chipping a piano up to pitch and raising the pitch of an
>old upright that is 5 whole steps below standard pitch????

Well, in addition to the above there's the exhorbitant amount of money the 
client has spent getting their cherished piano carefully rebuilt as opposed 
to the few dollars the client may have saved by not having their crappy old 
upright serviced properly in the first place!

But hey... if they want to pay me what I get paid for chipping a piano my 
way I'll be more than happy to do it. It'll be the same deal as in the 
shop, though. Broken strings, loose pins, splitting bridges and bad or 
popped agraffes are their responsibility, not mine. On a piano as bad as 
you describe that would include pieces falling off the action and keys as 
they're removed not to mention cleaning the mouse residue out of what used 
to be a musical instrument. That shouldn't bring the total bill past six or 
seven thousand dollars, wouldn't you say?

                 John

John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
mailto:john@musselwhite.com    http://www.mp3.com/fatbottom