near impossible tuning

[John Formsma]

Yes, but for me, it's usually much less. On the piano I'm talking about,
sometimes the pitch goes up to almost a half step above target. This is
greatly reduced if I keep slight downward pressure on the end of the lever
as I'm turning the pin. Maybe only a quarter step then - who's measuring
really?

Normally, on good pianos, I try for 1-2 beats above whatever target pitch,
then let the pin settle. Most times, 20 cents or more over the target pitch
is too much for me. It varies according to the piano. And, I rarely have to
beat a piano into submission, although there are a few....

Who knows? Maybe I'll look at this tomorrow and wonder who in the heck wrote
this? I had seven pianos today at a church to get ready for a music
festival, three of which needed pitch raises, and all of which could have
used some action help if I would have had time. Plus, I've folded a bunch of
laundry tonight that had piled up this week. (I'd rather do the seven again
than do laundry.) So, I'm a little weirder tonight than normal. ;-) 

John Formsma

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 10:02 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: near impossible tuning


> There is an older Young Chang G-185 I tune that does what I think you're
> describing. Is there a lot of flagpoling and the pitch goes wayyyyy up or
> down depending on the pin movement? This is the one piano that I just put
> earplugs in and hit it hard. But, what works in that piano is "memorizing"
> the feel of how the string moves and where it falls into place the best.
> Since the smallest actual movement of the pin in the block results in 20+
> cents pitch change, I just discount 18 of those cents and work with it
until
> it falls into proper place.

Don't we do this with everything we tune?
Ron N