[pianotech] aural pitch raises

[Ron Nossaman]

I sell pitch raises as "absolution" from neglect. Almost 
universally, people are thrilled to be able to buy a 
conditional Karma bypass at such a reasonable rate. I haven't 
done three passes on a pitch raise in a very long time, even 
from well over a semitone down. If something is in a "last 
tuned by Noah" state, I'll pull the center string of 
everything up as far over pitch as I dare (aural, so you don't 
get numbers), and as I come back through pulling the strip 
mute, pull the outside strings sharper than the center, dead 
reckoning the over pull by the difference between how low it 
was to begin with and how high I pulled the center string. If 
I did it right, the average unison tension is pretty close as 
the center string is pulled up somewhat to pitch on the second 
pass, and the outside strings are dropped a tad. All without 
over stressing anything detrimentally. I don't think it's on 
the recommended technique A list, but as a practical Karma 
bypass, it works pretty well with a little practice.

The last two months of tuning have been really strange for me. 
I've had a large percentage of repeats I haven't heard from in 
3-10 years, and a dozen or so new customers with "Noahs" in 
the 1/2 - 2 semitone low state.

'Ts weird. Need stability...

Ron N