tuning speed

[Stephen Airy]

So I take it that one pass when my Ricca is 10 cents
flat a couple days after I tune it to 440 (and it was
10 cents flat before I had tuned it and it had been a
month or so) isn't enough?

--- David Love <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Stephen:
> 
> Sorry, part 2 of your question:  when to do a pitch
> raise.  It depends on
> how concerned you are about where the piano ends up.
>  Any change in pitch
> will result in the piano going back in the direction
> you brought it by
> approximately 30%, thus the overpull calculation. 
> It seems to me that above
> 8 cents correction the piano starts to not hold tune
> with itself.  But that
> seems to vary from piano to piano.
> 
> 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
> > >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail!
> > http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/
> >
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail!
http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/