Yes the simplest answers are the easiest to explain. There's a reason for that. They're simple (and inaccurate). I wouldn't be honest if I said I never used that explanation. At first because I didn't know any different - it's what everyone told me - later as an expedient. More and more, however, I find that if you want a simple answer that people understand, you simply need to say when humidity changes, all the wooden components of your piano change as well, they expand and contract with increasing and decreasing RH. Simple. Accurate. If they want to know more you can delve into the complexities, if not, you're all set. William R. Monroe Ok, now William, the answer you gave "when humidity changes, all the wooden components of your piano change as well" is much easier to understand than the bridge and belly and rim, etc., moving and changing. I am much more willing to change my web site to that reasoning. But I still like my story, http://www.bleespiano.com/tuning.pdf, and I think I'll stay with it, for now. Wim -----Original Message----- From: William Monroe <bill at a440piano.net> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Fri, Apr 2, 2010 11:02 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] Grey market pianos, seasoned pianos, etc. Comments below. On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 3:01 PM, <tnrwim at aol.com> wrote: My own explanation is basically, "I don't know," and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I suggest that soundboard movement is a factor, along with bridge movement, rim movement as well as the rest of the belly components. What I THINK I know is that variable humidity levels cause tuning instability and a quicker demise of any piano, and that controlling humidity goes a very, very long way toward minimizing these issues. We know that wood changes it's dimensions with changing RH. We also know that having a stable RH yields a vastly more stable instrument, but it's awful tough to quantify how much and exactly where in the system these changes are or are not happening. I tell my clients something of that nature as well. It's a pretty simple argument to make that controlling humidity is the key, it's a bit tougher to quantify "why." William R. Monroe William Being honest with a customer and admitting that you don't know why a piano goes out of tune is very respectable. But from a piano owner's point of view, that doesn't give much confidence. I disagree. My philosophy is that being honest with a customer always engenders respect and confidence. As I said, for my part I typically tell them some of the theories as to why different technicians may suggest their piano goes out of tune seasonally. Then I tell them that for the most part, they all contribute, but to suggest that there is one reason is overly simplistic and inaccurate. When a client sees that you as a technician are unwilling to accept answers just because the masses recite the same answers, they DO respect that. All the reasons you give are very technical. The one common denominator is the changes in humidity. The biggest part of the piano that is effected by the humidity is the soundboard. Humidity does something to the soundboard, I would amend this to say "Humidity does something to the [piano], that does something to the tuning." Why suggest it's all about the soundboard if you believe it's not the case? that does something to the tuning. Yes, the other components are also effected, but the bridge doesn't rise and fall on its own, and the belly doesn't either. You are right that by controlling the humidity, it will stabilize the tuning. I see that here all the time. I've been here long enough to have done at least two tunings, and a lot of my pianos are dead on, and I have a hard time spending an hour on the piano. But the bottom line is that from a layman's point of view, the simplest answer is the easiest to explain to a customer. Wim Yes the simplest answers are the easiest to explain. There's a reason for that. They're simple (and inaccurate). I wouldn't be honest if I said I never used that explanation. At first because I didn't know any different - it's what everyone told me - later as an expedient. More and more, however, I find that if you want a simple answer that people understand, you simply need to say when humidity changes, all the wooden components of your piano change as well, they expand and contract with increasing and decreasing RH. Simple. Accurate. If they want to know more you can delve into the complexities, if not, you're all set. William R. Monroe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100403/14a35a21/attachment.htm>
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