Tuning Complaint - Help!

[Mike and Jane Spalding]

Terry,

Coincidentally, I tuned one just yesterday.  Family with 4 kids just starting lessons, inherited the Grand Spinet from grandparents, hadn't been tuned in decades.  100 to 200 cent pitch raise.  Overall, I was impressed with how well it tuned (relative to Whitneys, Lesters, etc.)  - few false beats, a "manageable" tenor break area, and nice feel to the pins.  If only I hadn't broken so many strings in the high treble.  Frustrating because  I was careful to lower every string before raising.  Frustrating because they didn't all break on the first pass - the last two went while tuning unisons on the 3rd pass.  I'll let you know in a year if it's still perfectly in tune.


Mike


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 4:24 PM
Subject: Re: Tuning Complaint - Help!


> Just curious, have you ever tuned/serviced a "Grand" console/spinet? Truely an experience! I assume not if you say Whitney is at the bottom of the heap!   :-)
> 
> And this I can say after spending 6 hours today servicing a 1960s Aeolian spinet in a Missionary Baptist church downtown! 9 strings, regulation, pitch raise, tune. YIKES!  But the $$$ makes me  :-).
> 
> Terry Farrell
>   
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <PNHISTIC1@AOL.COM>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 10:52 AM
> Subject: Re: Tuning Complaint - Help!
> 
> 
> > 
> > In a message dated 6/6/02 7:41:48 AM, Billbrpt@AOL.COM writes:
> > 
> > << But it is *their* piano and I earn good money taking care of it and get 
> > good 
> > referrals from them.  It would certainly be counterproductive for me to say 
> > what I really think about it.  I tune Kimball products fairly often and have 
> > never had the low opinion of them many technicians seem to have.  Most of 
> > them sound reasonably good and are very stable, long lasting instruments.  A 
> > few of them even qualify as being above average in both looks and tone 
> > quality. >>
> > 
> > Bill, Terry, et. al,
> > 
> > I agree that some Kimball products are indeed underrated: most are at the 
> > least consistent and quite servicable.  That said, I have never tuned a piano 
> > more disagreeable than a Whitney(which is actually a subspecies of Kimball).  
> > On the last one I happened upon, it didn't matter WHAT the Tunelab said was 
> > right, or where my ear tried to place the pitch.  I could never make the bass 
> > strings next to the break sound "in tune" according to my ear.  Very 
> > frustrating.
> > 
> > Dave Stahl
>