If pianos are "swollen" now... then what?

[Clyde Hollinger]

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Julia,

I do what is called by some "floating the pitch," although I would not 
do this for a concert where the piano really needs to be at A-440.

My experience is that in this area humidity generally peaks in August 
and September and hits the lowest usually in February and March.  So we 
are on the rise at this point of July.  When I sit down to tune a piano, 
I use my RCT to test where the pitches of the As are, from A1 to A6, and 
sometimes the lowest unwound strings also.  (If you tune aurally you'll 
need to use your own system.)

What I do next depends on the season and the situation.  If I've been 
tuning the piano in July at A-440 for years, but suddenly this year the 
whole piano is sharp, this is a humidity aberration.  If I tune it at 
A-440 again, it is almost a certainty that next year it will be flat.  
So I leave it sharp.  Obviously I keep good records so I can look back 
and see what has happened in the past 10-15 years.

I do not like 6-month tunings that swing between high and low humidity 
seasons.  I have a couple customers like that, and sometimes I never 
tune the piano to A-440, leaving it several cents high in the summer and 
about the same amount low in the winter.  That way I'm putting less wear 
on the pinblock, and I know that somewhere between tunings the piano is 
on target.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT

Alpha88x@aol.com wrote:

> Greetings,
>
>               If the pianos are "swollen" just now (summertime), due 
> to the humid mountanous atmosphere of this part of Pennsylvania, is it 
> OK to tune above A440?
>
>                I have been tuning for alittle over a year now. I have 
> found that pianos which the customer tells me havent been tuned for 5 
> or more years, are very close to A440, yet they are terribly out of 
> tune as far as unisons and horribly flat upper octaves.
>
>                 In other words, I will get a call to have a piano 
> tuned and am told its been 5 plus yaears since last tuning, yet the A 
> below middle C is right on or near 440. Other pianos I go to, the 
> customer will say it's been 2 years and these are actually a few beats 
> above A440.
>
>                 I never turn them back to A440, I figure they are 
> swelled right now, and if I turn them down to 440 now, then, when the 
> summer is over they will go below 440 when the heat goes on. Last 
> summer, I had my first few tunings and I turned pianos back down to 
> 440 and I was wondering if my fork was off...This year I figured it 
> out. I think I am correct, but I want to be sure on this.
>
>                 This year, (with my whole whopping 16 months 
> expertise)  If I go into a situation and its a few beats above 440 I 
> tune it right there. In fact,  if the customer doesnt have a 
> dehumidifer or ar conditioning, I even pull the piano up a bit to be 
> alittle above A440. Pianos "should" be sharp just now, right? How am I 
> on this? Am I figuring OK on this?
>
> Thanks
> Julia Gottchall,
> Reading, PA     


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