When you're tuning an older piano, what are some things you consider when deciding whether or not to attempt to pull the piano up to concert pitch or to leave it where it is? (assuming the piano is no more than 50 cents (1/4 step) flat) I just tuned my cousin's Geo. Steck upright (I'd say approx. 52" - didn't measure it...) today. The serial # looked like it was in the 13000s or 15000s - I don't remember - might have been 13543 or 13513 - but I think the 4th and 5th digits were 43, and first was definitely 1. Anyway.. this piano looked to be built in the 1880s or 1890s. It had 88 keys, a 3/4 plate, was overstrung with an underdamper action. Piano was approx. 40 cents flat, and it looked like several strings in the mid to high treble had been replaced not long before. Considering the replaced strings and the 3/4 plate, I tuned it where it was. The action definitely needs some work, and the piano could use restringing (unichords 1-10, bichords 11-27 (break between 26 and 27), and wrapped trichords 28-31 were quite dead sounding, and a lot of plain steel strings up to middle C seemed to be somewhat rusty, not to mention the strings in the upper treble that had been replaced. Oh, this piano had square shaped agraffe-like termination points throughout the entire piano. How do you determine whether or not to pull a piano up to pitch? -- Stephen Airy stephenairy@fastmail.fm -- http://fastmail.fm - Get back to work
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