The pitch raise speech

[John Ross]

I always try to get the piano, to A440. If someone is taking lessons, we 
don't want to have their ear mistrained.
Even ones that say A435 stencilled somewhere inside, will take the extra 
tension with no problem.
Sometimes, strings do break, but I have always informed them, prior to 
tuning, that there is a greater chance of string breakage.
I bring them up a semi-tone at a time, and on the older ones, never 
overpull.
In the 30 years I have been doing this, only one piano wouldn't come up, 
because strings broke. The funny thing is, they broke when I tried to 
tune it to where it was, and they also broke when I tried to lower the 
pitch.
Investigate how long it has been down in pitch, if it happened over a 
short time period, suspect a separated pin block.
In fact any time you have to do a large pitch change, check all screws 
to make sure they are tight. Check the back of the piano at the back of 
the top, and make sure that the wood all lines up. An indication of the 
separated pinblock, is unevenness, of the wood sections, or the plate 
being uneven at the front, in relation to the folded back lid.
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.
jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Doepke" <doepkeb at comcast.net>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 2:26 PM
Subject: RE: The pitch raise speech


> If the piano is more that 20 cents under, and the piano is older and
> neglected, I explain that there is a higher chance of the strings 
> breaking
> if I were to pull the string tension all the way back up to 
> standard/factory
> tension.  I do explain to them that, based on how far flat it is, it 
> may
> take a few tunings to get the piano back to standard pitch.  Most 
> folks say
> that they understand and are embarrassed that the piano went so long 
> without
> service.  But, they are very happy after the tuning...even though it 
> may not
> be up to standard pitch..because it sounds so much better to them.
>
> Does that make sense?
>
> Brian P. Doepke
>
> AAA Piano Works, Inc.
> 260-432-2043
> 260-417-1298
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Michelle Smith
> Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 12:36 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: The pitch raise speech
>
> As a new tuner, I have read with much interest the non-emotional
> speech given to customers concerning the possible outcomes of a pitch
> raise.  (Plate failure, string breakage, etc.)
>
> Is there a certain point (cents-wise) that you give this speech or is
> it based more on the condition/age of the instrument?
>
> Also, I'm assuming the customer's answer is usually in favor of the
> pitch raise.  What do you do when they don't want to risk it?  Go
> home or tune the piano to itself?
>
> Thanks for sharing your experiences.
>
> Michelle Smith
> Student Tuner
> Bastrop, Texas
>
>
>