tuning speed

[David Love]

Stephen and Don:

Check my post again.  I think the second pass should be a refinement of
unisons only.  Shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes depending on how
accurate the first pass was.  A pitch raise is another issue.  In that case,
for me, there will be three passes:  The pitch raise, the fine tuning, and
the check of unisons.  I only do one pass tunings on practice room pianos or
their equivalent.

David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Airy" <stephen_airy@yahoo.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: January 14, 2002 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: tuning speed


> Ok, so 2 passes is always better than one.
>
> Here's part of my question -- when a piano is, within,
> say, 2 or 3 cents, is one pass OK?  Or, what is the
> max it can be off before two passes is recommended?
>
> Also, what is the farthest flat for a piano to be
> before you all might recommend three passes (one up to
> pitch with no overpull, second with overpull, third
> fine tune)?  Also, is there ever any case where
> someone would recommend four or more passes?  (We'll
> assume that the pinblock and bridges are in fair
> condition (good enough to take a pitch raise).)
>
> --- David Love <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Reading all these posts on whether one pass or two
> > is more accurate I think
> > that the focus has been in the wrong area.  All
> > things being equal, two
> > passes will always be more accurate than one.  A
> > second pass at some level
> > should always be done to insure accuracy. The
> > question should really be
> > about what should be accomplished on each pass.  The
> > answer lies partially
> > in the psychology of perception.
> >
> > One's ability to make fine discriminations will
> > always be related to the
> > range of the field.  The smaller the range, the
> > greater ones ability to make
> > fine discriminations.  In practice, that means that
> > if you are pulling the
> > piano into tune from all over the place, you will
> > not be able to
> > discriminate subtleties in the quality of the
> > unisons that you would be if
> > the piano were already basically in tune.
> > Similarly, for example, if you
> > are adjusting repetition springs and the tensions
> > are somewhat chaotic, you
> > will not be able to perceive small differences as
> > easily on the first pass
> > as you will on the second.  Thus the argument for
> > going over a regulation
> > more than once as well.
> >
> > As far as what you should try to accomplish on each
> > pass, then, on the first
> > pass you should try to get the piano in as good tune
> > as possible without
> > lingering too long.  My goal is that if I leave it
> > after the first pass, I
> > won't have much doubt as to its acceptibility.  You
> > should definitely
> > concentrate on making sure that each string is set
> > and stable.  For me that
> > means tuning with test blow force, checking with
> > soft blows, and not leaving
> > any string until I am confident that it is going to
> > stay there.  A quick
> > first pass that doesn't achieve at least that is, to
> > me, a waste of time.
> > On the second pass, one should only be listening to
> > the unisons and making
> > very small refinements.  The fewer changes you have
> > to make, the easier it
> > will be to make very fine discriminations.  You
> > certainly don't want to be
> > guessing as to whether any note will withstand a
> > hard blow.  If you are in
> > doubt, you better check each pin again.  One or two
> > unisons that don't hold
> > from normal playing is too many.
> >
> > As far as speed goes, it doesn't really matter.  If
> > you find after much
> > practice that it takes you 4 hours to tune a piano
> > you might want to
> > consider whether your ability to earn enough money
> > might be compromised.  I
> > personally can't do a good solid tuning in much less
> > than an hour and it's
> > usually 1.00 - 1.25 hours for a piano that is
> > basically out of tune.  When I
> > was a strict aural tuner, it took a little bit
> > longer.  I do them faster
> > sometimes for a variety of reasons, but I like to
> > feel confident when I
> > leave the piano that there aren't any whiny unisons
> > and that the piano will
> > stand up to very hard playing.  I charge accordingly
> > and make no compromises
> > between my ability to earn a living and deliver
> > quality work.
> >
> > David Love
> >
>
>
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