Fork accuracy - was - OT-Road Service - not really OT...

[Ron Nossaman]

>    Except for that one concert tuning out of 1000 other tunings in homes, 
> schools, and churches, it just doesn't matter.  If the piano's a bit flat 
> or sharp of 440, but basically in tune with itself, I leave it that way, 
> rather than raise or lower pitch and make it more unstable.

For the most part, it probably won't matter, but I rarely float pitch. I 
figure if I'm there to tune it, it ought to be as close to what my fork 
tells me as I can get it without making a two pass pitch adjustment twice a 
year. Impossible climate control is a reality, and has to be dealt with 
somewhere in the process. I don't trust "freebies" anyway, and will likely 
move a string that seems to already be in tune just to be sure it settles 
where I want it. As to the accuracy of the fork, if it's been calibrated at 
some time in it's life, and it's not been in the freezer or oven, it should 
be acceptably accurate. My tools don't stay out in the car at the mercy of 
weather and passing felons. They go with me, so my fork never is far from 
room temperature. It comes out of the case first, and lies on the plate as 
I strip the piano, so by the time I'm ready to use it, it's ready too. Is 
it PERFECTLY on pitch? No, probably not, but who has an accurate means of 
judging the result?

Ron N