American School of Piano Tuning

[Wayne M. Williams]

Dear John:
I took the course from the American School in the year 200, and found that 
for repair work there is no easy way to explain it. It is indeed inadequate 
in this regard, and I soon found myself up to my neck, so to speak, in 
repairs I could not handle, I am in the middle of trying to repair and 1912 
Kranich and Bach upright, and the owner is frustrated and growing more 
impatient by the day that I can't get it to work "right". I probably should 
take the randy Potter course. Any suggestions?

Wayne Williams
Schroon Lake.Y 12870
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Ross" <jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2006 4:00 PM
Subject: Re: Story and Clark not tuned for 30 years!!


>I took that course in 1975.
> All it does is get you started. Then you must seek out the proper 
> knowledge. For me it was the PTG.
> There was a survey done, and I believe the ASPT, was considered the worst 
> course. Mind you, it might have improved since then.
> Anything they say, don't take as gospel, check it out from another source.
> The one good thing that they did, was to get me started in one of the best 
> jobs there is, with some of the nicest people I have met, and continue to 
> meet at the different conventions.
> Oh yes, what started this all. In most cases I always bring the piano up 
> to pitch, explaining to the customer the chance of string breakage. 
> Depending on the situation, I bring it up a tone or semitone at a time, 
> and do the tunings one after the other in one day.
> Sometimes strings break, and sometimes they don't, and the age of the 
> piano, seems to have nothing to do with it. Sometimes the string breakage 
> occurs with one guage of wire, in a piano. Which might require the 
> replacement of that guage.
> John M. Ross
> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.
> jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Samuel Choy" <sam at scpianoservice.com>
> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2006 1:59 PM
> Subject: Re: Story and Clark not tuned for 30 years!!
>
>
>> Hi Andrew,
>>
>>> 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 piano tuning curriculum I took, The American School of Piano Tuning, 
>> recommended against it. From the replies I've received on this post, 
>> though, it seems that is unnecessary if you take the proper care.
>> Sam Choy
>>
>>
>>
>> ---- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Andrew and Rebeca Anderson" <anrebe at sbcglobal.net>
>> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2006 8:47 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>