Clyde, and all, Thanks for the responses, my thoughts are interspersed below... --- Clyde Hollinger wrote: > Dave, > Three possibilities enter my mind here. > 1. How far out of tune was the piano the second > time you tuned it? I've just tuned it once, so far. The second time is tomorrow. I measured A's and C's with RCT, since it had been tuned 2 weeks prior, and my here are my notes. (bottom 3 octaves a couple cents sharp. center- 4cents flat, octave 5-2cents flat, octave 6-right on, octave 7-4cents sharp.) Not sure what method the previous tech used, so these results don't really tell us how much the tuning changed. > Some folks have a very low tolerance for any change > at all, and even > with a complete Dampp-Chaser installation they will > not be satisfied > with the stability. I will never forget hearing > Jack Stebbins recount > the time he almost had a concert tuning finished > when someone switched > on (ah! which was it now?) either the air > conditioning or the stage > lights. The tuning changed before he left the room. > Yes, it can change > that quickly, and I don't think any Dampp-Chaser > installation is going to help that. I ran into this a couple of weeks ago in a cold church with the hot air duct coming out right next to the piano. We moved it before I proceeded. > 2. Sometimes no one has actually noticed that the > piano tuning > changed. They call just because for an important > event they want to be > sure it is not out of tune to avoid potential > embarrassment. Hmmm. I think the tuning probably is drifting sooner than one would expect. > 3. What is the weather like in Washington state? You wouldn't like it. We don't get much snow. Winter temps in the 40's, summer in the 70's, not many mosquitos, lots of big evergreen trees, misty light rain, close to the mountains, Puget Sound, Pacific Ocean, etc. > If the humidity level > is always above 40%, my opinion is that you do not > need a complete > Dampp-Chaser system with the humidifying components, > but the heat bars > and control unit are likely to result in an > improvement, if there's not > an air current near the piano. In that case use an > undercover also. It's not always above 40%, but I've gotten a couple of private posts from local techs (highly respected by me) who commonly use dehumidifier rods with humidistat. I think the undercover is especially a good idea in this situation. > It is unclear to me from what you wrote if you > thought you might be able > to get away with just the heat bars and *no* > humidistat. That would be > a bad idea. With no humidistat there is no way to > control the drying > power. No, I would never use a rod without a humidistat. I've run across a couple uprights with old systems and toasted innards. I "fix-em" so they won't be plugged in again...ever. > I am not as pessimistic as Kevin regarding the > church keeping the system > plugged in, but he has a good point. Kevin seems like a good guy, I think we can let his pessimism slide this time...especially since he has a good point. :-) I have found > unplugged systems, > but in a minority of my installations. At least one > person in the > church has to care enough about tuning stability to > keep an eye on that > plug. If s/he finds a pattern of the system > unplugged, then it's time > for detective work to find out what's going on and > find a remedy. > Regards, > Clyde Hollinger, RPT > Lititz, PA, USA I think there is enough interest that it would stay plugged in (that's if they choose to buy the system). I'll be doing my homework to give an educated opinion and proposal tomorrow while I'm there. Thanks again for the advice, Dave Davis Renton, WA Puget Sound Chapter > "Kevin E. Ramsey" wrote: > > > Dave, what can I say? Churches are notorious for > this. No, a > > damp-chaser isn't going to help, because the piano > doesn't "belong" to > > any one person, therefore, no-one is going to be > looking after it, and > > making sure it's plugged in. (Which it won't be, > off and on). The > > fact of the matter; pianos like being where humans > live, and in the > > same conditions. Churches often, because of > economics, turn the AC > > off, or way down when the church is not being > used. Makes sense to me, > > but it's not good for the tunings. The bottom > line here is; > > Unstable environment=Unstable piano. But, that's > just one person's > > opinion. Kevin > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Dave Davis > > To: Pianotech > > Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2003 4:55 PM > > Subject: Need Stable Advice > > Hi List, > > > > Hope this isn't too long, I'll try to include > lots of > > info. > > > > Just before Christmas I got a call from a big > church > > needing an "emergency" tuning the next day > (Sunday) > > for a big program with full orchestra. Since > I'm > > "less experienced", I had time to do it. The > piano, > > 1980 Yamaha C7 gray market, had been tuned 2 > weeks > > before. It seems that they've had it about 3 > years > > and it won't stay in tune very long. > > > > I carefully looked for structural problems > and gave it > > my best, stablest tuning (no laughing, > please) and got > > done as the orchestra was showing up. I > figured I'd > > never hear from them again. > > > > They called this week to schedule the next > tuning. > > Seems that I did something right, and they're > hoping > > I'll be able to make it more stable. > > > > My "less experienced" feeling is that it's a > climate > > issue. The church has a roll back ceiling, > so even > > though we don't have big humid/dry changes, > it > > probably has access to more changes than most > rooms. > > > > Dampp Chaser might be the answer, but in my > chapter, > > there is only one guy (that I have found) who > uses > > them, and he only uses just the rods with a > > humidistat. If it had only the rods, would > it dry the > > piano in such a way that it would experience > the same > > problems as gray market pianos in dry > climates? > > > > Got any other ideas? Am I missing something? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Dave Davis > > Renton, WA > > Assoc. PTG > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, > more > > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > > pianotech list info: > > https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/
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