A First Tuning (and tuning / moisture content stability question)

[piannaman at aol.com]

 Michelle,
 
Good job!  Welcome to the obsessive world of piano technology.  And it only gets worse....almost 11:00 PM and I'm still on pianotech!
 
I've seen quite a few pianos that live in abysmal conditions that seem quite stable.  Maybe some of the soundboard specialists out there could enlighten us:  do older spruce panels maintain a more stable moisture content than newer ones?  This question is not intended to ask whether older wood is of better quality than the newer spruce(we all know that everything from the old days is better than anything new.....:-{> )  I'm just wondering about the effects of aging on spruce.  Less flex, but more stability perhaps?
 
Dale, Ron O., Ron N.???
 
Dave Stahl


Dave Stahl Piano Service
650-224-3560
dstahlpiano at sbcglobal.net
http://dstahlpiano.net/



 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Michelle Smith <michelle at cdaustin.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Fri, 2 Jun 2006 17:51:37 -0500
Subject: A First Tuning


Hi all.  I wanted to tell you about my very first tuning for pay.  It was for a music teacher friend who lives in an old farmhouse here in Central Texas.  She said I might want to come early in the day because she has no air conditioning!   So I get there about 9:00 and it’s pretty pleasant.  She has the windows open and the fans running.  I learned very quickly that the fans were going to have to be turned off (wah, wah, wah…).  By the time I finished it was nice and toasty.  (Read sweating like a pig.)    =)
 
Of course, you’re probably wondering what kind of shape this poor Baldwin Console was in with our Texas weather.  Would you believe that the bass was a little flat, the treble quite a bit sharp, and the center was almost dead on?!  It hasn’t been tuned in years.  
 
Anyways, just thought you might like to hear about the adventures of a newbie tuner.
 
Michelle Smith
Bastrop, Texas
 
 
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