Chickoring Square Grand tuning/part II

[Joseph Garrett]

Sherry,
One small item: It's Chickering. <G>
There is a trick to getting the lid off: Pull the pins on the hinges; Remove
the right music desk bracket and the music rack; set aside. Stand in the
exact center, front of the piano; reach across the piano and grasp the back
of the lid, with one hand; place your other hand on the front of the lid;
lift up on the back of the lid, while holding the front from sliding; the
lid will become vertical; grasp, firmly and lift it off of the piano, making
sure that the "flaps" don't flap; place the lid in the preselected site;
bend your knees, keeping back straight and place the lid, in a vertical
position, leaning up against something, (a long sofa is always an ideal
spot). Alternative: have the client help you. Once the lid is removed,
remove the damper upstop rail, being careful not to drop the "thumb nuts"
that hold it in place, into the action. (don't ask!)<G>
At this point, strip the piano. On most of the common types it is easy to
strip the piano. Use a thin mute strip, as the string spacing is fairly
tight. Pick the spot where you can push the mute strip down between the
bass/tenor bi-chords and the first bi-chord plain strings under it, thus
muting both sets in one swell foop..er fell swoop.(I use a thin 6" ruler to
push the mute strips in with.). continue up the piano until you run out of
strip. mute the rest of the piano with the wide grand type rubber mutes. You
are now ready to tune. Check pitch; make decision if piano can be tuned to
standard pitch.
Best Regards,
Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)