Story and Clark not tuned for 30 years!!

[David Ilvedson]

Isn't an all Steinway school with Boston piano, actually not an all Steinway school...;-]

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044


----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Andrew and Rebeca  Anderson" <anrebe at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Received: 7/23/2006 6:47:42 AM
Subject: Re: Story and Clark not tuned for 30 years!!



>>I didn't dare raise it to pitch because it had been so long since it 
>>was tuned. I just tuned it to itself. It was the most horribly out 
>>of tune piano I have tuned in my short career. When I was over, it 
>>still sounded terrible to me, but the customer was thrilled. He said 
>>it was the best he ever heard it sound (he's not a piano player). I 
>>was honest and didn't pretend that I was happy with how it sounded. 
>>I told him that it would take several tunings to make it sound good. 
>>He's having me back in six months to give it another tuning.

>Huh, why not?.  I've tuned century old uprights that the owners were 
>absolutely certain hadn't been tuned in 70 years back up to 
>pitch.  First pass to pitch.  Second pass with over-pull to keep 
>pitch and third to fine tune.  I did let each string down first to 
>break rust bonds and then pulled it up.  Not a single broken string 
>and it was rusty.  It had adequate pin tension a little on the low side.

>>The pins seemed to twist before they moved, making the instrument 
>>very hard to tune. When I moved my tuning hammer, the pitch would go 
>>up, then go down when I released it. I ended up very carefully 
>>applying constant pressure to the tuning hammer until I felt the 
>>tuning pin turn a little. It worked for me, though it took a long 
>>time. As far as hammer technique goes, was that something you would have done?

>I have brand-new Bostons here at the all Steinway School that twist a 
>lot of cycles before the foot budges.  Makes for a difficult session 
>to get a stable tuning.  What seems to speed things up is little 
>jerks on the hammer.  Slowly pulling the pin up until it budges is a 
>recipe for broken stings.

>Andrew Anderson