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

[Dean May]

I just tuned a church yesterday that I do every 6 months. Last February I
tuned it to 440. Yesterday it was +5 in the bass, +18 at tenor break, +35 in
octaves 6 & 7. I tuned it to +10. If I had gone down to 440, I would have
had the mirror image of those numbers in February. Tuning it to +10 will
probably get it to a little below 440 in February like last time. I probably
should have tuned it flat then.

I have recommended DampChaser numerous times to this church. So I figure
tune it so that it will be close to 440 for most of the year, even though
they play it with a keyboard and +10 is still going to sound pretty off
pitch. Durned if I do, durned if I don't.

Dean
Dean May             cell 812.239.3359
PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272
Terre Haute IN  47802

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 9:15 AM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Re: Fork accuracy - was - OT-Road Service - not really OT...


>    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

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