CF Tuning Lever

[Mark Dierauf]

Phil - what a coincidence! I got my Faulk CF lever yesterday, but as it 
arrived late in the day I didn't get a chance to try it until this 
morning when I pitch-raised & tuned a Baldwin 243 that was about 35¢ 
flat! I've got to say that this first tuning really seemed much more 
tiring than usual, but I put this down to my unfamiliarity with the 
ball-end type handle as well as the awkward size of this little 
piano-beastie, being too tall to comfortably sit and too short for 
standing - plus that darned lid's in the way! I also noticed that the 
oversized (at least compared with my old hammer) head obscured the 
tuning pins somewhat when moving from pin to pin, as I think somebody 
else had mentioned, although this was not so bad as to cause any real 
difficulties.

Later in the day though, I tuned a newish D that was within a couple of 
cents everywhere and that was a pure pleasure! the lightness of the 
hammer is amazing. My old hammer was about 11.4oz which I never thought 
was particularly heavy but this one is just 8.7oz and it is just 
astounding how much of a difference that makes in moving around the 
tuning pin field. When combined with the added stiffness I felt that it 
was much easier to make the smallest pin movements almost effortlessly. 
I still have a learning curve getting used to the ball-end, but I think 
this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

- Mark Dierauf

Phil Bondi wrote:
> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">Hi all.
>
> I would have never believed it if I didn't experience it for myself...
>
> Today was my first day with a new Carbon Fiber tuning lever from 
> Charles Faulk. A good one word answer to how I feel about it: wow.
>
> I pulled it out of the box this morning - first tuning was a Baldwin 
> Vertical that hasn't been tuned since before Charles was making 
> Titanium(yes, I own one)..once I got past how light the lever is, and 
> how effortless it moves even these tight tuning pins, it was almost 
> business as usual...why almost?
>
> Because the most revealing feature of a lever this light and this 
> stiff is how easily the pins now set. That little bit of 'meow' that 
> we all do battle with when setting pins was a breeze. I'm not sure 
> exactly why it was so easy..but I did notice that I was using more of 
> my torso to tune than the arm and shoulder area.
>
> The next piano was a beauty - Yamaha CFlll. My experience with this 
> particular piano is one of fun and very easy to tune. This lever acted 
> like butter on a hot skillet with these pins.
>
> I still can't get over how quickly and effortlessly this lever moves 
> pins. If you go to his site:
>
> http://www.faulkpiano.com/CFTuningHammer/
>
> the one he sent me looks an awful lot like CF1..and if it is, you will 
> be signing this tuning lever in Anaheim, Mr. Faulk. I remember asking 
> you about CF when you were first experimenting with it..asking for a 
> sample to try. You said you weren't ready. It was worth the wait.
>
>  I am immensely impressed. That's not something I say often.
>
> -Phil Bondi(Fl)
>
>
> </div>