Tuning lever length

[Avery Todd]

David,

Yours & Terry's method sound the closest to my method. I keep constant
pressure on the pin with the tuning lever & try to gently "nudge" the pin to
move in tiny increments. With really tight pins of course, the pitch may
change a good bit before one actually feels the pin move. So I guess I could
be considered a gentle jerk!

Avery Todd
Houston, TX

On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 12:18 AM, David Ilvedson <ilvey at sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

>  My Macassar Ebony Faulk hammer is 10 inches long.   I haven't really
> tried a lot of different length hammers so I don't have a good reason for
> the 10 inches.  I like it.   I'm a jerk, I prefer to call it dynamic impact,
> as in I begin with light pressures and it may increase as I feel what is
> going on with the pin...this technique is really all over the place with
> changes...it certainly has times of just low torque on the pin and key
> action...what I like is the fluidity....coaxing the pin, and of course when
> fine tuning really little or no pin movement at all...
>
> I don't really understand the smooth pull technique...I've tried to do it
> many times to get a feel for it, but how do you know when the pin is going
> to move?   With impacts I know the pin/tension is going change in tiny
> increments...Is it steady pressure starting lightly and increasing until the
> pin moves or the pitch changes...?    I don't get it...
>
> David Ilvedson, RPT
> Pacifica, CA 94044
>
>  ------------------------------
> Original message
> From: "Bruce Dornfeld"
> To: pianotech
> Received: 2/22/2008 8:55:18 PM
> Subject: Tuning lever length
>
>
>
> The discussion of the new CF carbon fiber levers brings to mind a subject
> that I cannot remember seeing on pianotech.  How long of a tuning lever
> works best for your basic tuning technique?   A couple of years ago I gave a
> technical session for our chapter called "If I had The Hammer".  It was a
> survey of the numerous tuning levers that can be purchased today as well as
> modifications that can be made.  One observation I made is one that you,
> with your input to the list, can help us all understand better.  I believe
> that tuners who use a smooth hammer technique prefer a longer lever and that
> tuners who use a jerk or impact technique benefit from a shorter lever.
>
> I have been using a jerk or impact technique for at least twenty five
> years now.  I have gone through many tuning levers.  I started with the long
> extension lever at 11 1/2 inches, but quickly changed to the shorter 10 inch
> one.  The first Fujan lever I tried, in his early days, felt to me like
> walking on stilts.  It might have been 15 inches long or longer, but I'm not
> sure about that.  I currently use a Charles Falk lever that is 8 3/4 inches
> long and it has worked great for me for several years or more.  But I think
> that's because I'm a jerk.  I had a Jahn Pear handle hammer for a while.  It
> was a nice light weight, but at 11 inches overall, it was just too long for
> me.  I gave it to Robert Guenther, a CTE for our chapter, to try and he
> bought it from me.  It has been his main lever for at least a couple of
> years now.  Robert is a smoothie.  That is, he uses a smooth or steady pull
> technique t! o tune.
>
> Most of you know if you are jerks or smoothies.  What length tuning lever
> works best for your technique?
>
>
> Bruce Dornfeld, RPT  Jerk Tuner
> bdornfeld at earthlink.net
> North Shore Chapter
>
>
>
>
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