[pianotech] Further explanation: How long do unisons hold?

[Terry Farrell]

The instability I observe on the cruise ship C3s I think are due to  
climate changes in the room and how hard the piano is played. In the  
main atrium there are no lights shining on the pianos and the music  
played is soft background music - these pianos are always very stable.  
The other end of the spectrum are the piano bar pianos - they get  
wailed on (and sometimes I think women dance on the strings with high  
heels!), spilled on and intense HOT lights shine on and off the piano  
- these pianos are always a mess.

Terry Farrell

On Mar 10, 2010, at 8:19 AM, Dean May wrote:

> Well your C3 examples are the perfect illustration- identical pianos  
> tuned at the same time. Unless you are stopping by the bar before  
> tuning the pianos that end up horrible, the stable pianos give proof  
> that you are giving a stable tuning. No outside influence I’m aware  
> of will take a poor tuning and make the unisons stable. But we know  
> the converse is true: outside influences can and do take a  
> relatively solid tuning and destroy the unisons.
>
> Dean
>
> Dean W May                (812) 235-5272
>
> PianoRebuilders.com    (888) DEAN-MAY
>
> Terre Haute IN 47802
>
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]  
> On Behalf Of Terry Farrell
> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 11:21 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Further explanation: How long do unisons  
> hold?
>
> That's what can be confusing. Some pianos, such as those that I tune  
> on cruise ships (Yamaha C3s) I see every two weeks. Some are pretty  
> good after that time and some are horrible. The other end of the  
> spectrum is a lady who has a Baldwin Hamilton (maybe 1970 or so) and  
> the once per year that I see it, I often start out - after an  
> initial listen - wondering why she wants to tune it - the darn thing  
> is sooooooo stable.
>
> Seems hard to judge.
>
> Terry Farrell
>
> On Mar 9, 2010, at 8:43 PM, Dean May wrote:
>
>
> A good check on yourself is to look at the pianos you regularly  
> service. When you find a lot of unisons still fairly decent after 6  
> to 12 months, pat yourself on the back. You are doing a good job.
>
> Some pianos are awful in that amount of time of course. I comfort  
> myself with the knowledge that lots of pianos I tune regularly are  
> not. I know that my tuning skill can produce a moderately stable  
> tuning because I’ve seen lots of these among my clientele. So for  
> those that go awful, chock it up to environmental/other issues.
>
> Dean
>
> Dean W May
>

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