"Old School Teachings"

[Newton Hunt]

> perhaps it was a vision impaired tuner, 

Watch yourself Ross, you are stomping on sacred toes.  Mine!  _I_ am vision impaired, I don't
like to replace strings but will when they break.  I have been tuning pianos for almost 40
years so that makes me old.  I was taught that A440 was the standard and by God that is where I
want them.  None of this 442 crap, unless I get very well paid for doing it.  Or it's the
middle of summer. :)

It comes down to laziness, incompetence and screw the customer.

		Newton (pissed as hell)




John Ross wrote:
> 
> Hi Terry,
> I run across quite a few pianos, that had been tuned within the last 5
> years, and they are down, a semi-tone.
> I used to wonder why. I have a couple of thoughts on it.
> One was, that perhaps it was a vision impaired tuner, and he was afraid of
> string breakage.
> These are for the most part older pianos.
> Another thought, was that he had found that if he did bring them up to
> pitch, they didn't stay.
> So he just tuned them at the pitch they were at, so they would stay for a
> longer time.
> I don't know, how the older tuners learned, maybe they were self taught, and
> didn't know about pitch raises.
> We know, that so much more information is available now, that wasn't 40 - 50
> years ago.
> I have no proof that my thoughts on this are even close to reality. But
> there has to be some reason, that so many pianos are so flat.
> I even tuned on the other day, that belonged to a minister. The piano, had
> been bought new for him in the early 30's, he did not remember, it ever
> having been tuned. It was down, almost a full tone. Not too bad for about 70
> years.
> Mind you, I am in a Province (State), with a total population, of under a
> million. It is a rural area, so keeping a piano tuned regularly, is not a
> priority. There is so many other places for the money to go. If I am lucky,
> I can get them to tune regularly, for the 3-4 years that lessons are being
> taken. I hear all the time, that no one plays it any more, now that the kids
> are gone.
> Just a few rambling thoughts.
> Regards,
> John M. Ross
> Windsor, Nova Scotia.
> jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 7:18 PM
> Subject: "Old School Teachings"
> 
> > What did they teach piano tuners decades ago?
> >
> > Now before I flamed too bad, I have all the respect in the world for
> anyone of advanced age, er, a lots of experience. But for those who have
> chosen to not keep up with advancements in tuning, I have a question.
> >
> > I tuned a 1970 (or so) "Kincade" spinet today. Seemed to be a lot like a
> "Grand" spinet. Nuff said. The piano was a full half-step flat. The folks
> just moved here from Texas. I asked how long had it been since the last
> tuning (expecting her to say about 1971), she said about a year ago and that
> she had it tuned every six months. I was dumbfounded. They are the original
> owners of the piano.
> >
> > This piano is played by two of her daughters, one has been taking lessons
> for four years, and the other for two years. There is no rust on the
> strings. There are no cracks in the plate. There is no significant defects
> in the plywood soundboard (unless you want to count the whole board as a
> defect). This piano should be tuned to A440. This woman was happy as a clam
> to pay for two pitch raises and a tuning and thanked my about 100 times for
> getting it up to pitch. The older daughter had always complained about the
> piano "sounding off".
> >
> > Now here is the flame Terry part. I asked her if it was an elderly
> gentleman that had been tuning the piano. Of course, she said "yes, how did
> you know?"
> >
> > My question: Why is it that many "old school" piano tuners "tune it where
> it lies". I can understand the old upright worries (although I find they are
> usually not justified), but not a 30 year old piano. I don't think human
> intelligence has gone up much since 50 years ago (I can think of many
> examples - but this is not a political list!) - I can only assume they were
> taught that way. Is that correct?
> >
> > Terry Farrell
> >
> >
> >