Speed Tuning/ analogy

[Z! Reinhardt]

Perhaps this is a question of "How fast is fast enough?"

I've listened to technicians early in their careers laboring over floor
tunings in a dealer's showroom.  They seem to get so bogged down with making
some small part of the tuning come out "just so" that they lose sight of the
overall "picture" of what the entire piano "wants" to sound like.  And, I've
also followed the work of tooners who obviously blast through the tuning job
as quicky as possible to make the fastest buck.  If they took the time to
check their work, would they hear their mistakes, some of which are overly
noticeable?  (I often hear the customers' stories about these tooners.)

My experience has been that there are some pianos out there that just don't
want to be pushed into a wham-bang job while others just about "fall into
tune" when a technician just looks at them the right way.  The ideal [or I
should think] is to work fast enough to keep the overall sound of the piano
intact but slow enough to be diligent in fostering its stability ... or is
it the other way around?

Flame suit ready (if it still fits)
Z! Reinhardt  RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net

----- Original Message -----
From: <JIMRPT@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2002 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: Speed Tuning/ analogy



In a message dated 13/01/02 6:22:15 PM, drpt@sk.sympatico.ca writes:

<< I believe that there is a stability issue with slow tunings. I believe
that
faster tunings atleast where I live result in more stable tunings. Has
anyone else who lives in an extreme climate noticed this?
 >>

Yes I have Don, and particuarly in those cases where the piano thingee sits
in front of a window which allows the sun to come in about a third of the
way
through tuning!! :-)
Jim Bryant (FL)