[pianotech] Developing confidence - was Steinway Upright

[Terry Farrell]

Hi William. Fair enough. No disrespect felt on my end. However, at  
least from my perspective and my experience, post 1950 S&S verticals  
typically take me up to 50% more time to tune than any other piano.  
Yes, you need to change style a bit for a newer Baldwin vertical, but  
it doesn't take me any longer to tune than most any other piano. Just  
speaking for myself anyway, I have found that only post 1950 S&S  
verticals take significantly more time to tune than any other piano  
(players and square grands excluded).

Just been my experience. Your experience may well differ.  :-)

Terry Farrell

On Nov 21, 2010, at 9:13 AM, William Monroe wrote:

> I agree with David - no disrespect, Terry.  But - it really is just  
> another piano.  True what you say that S&S uprights can be  
> troublesome and perhaps a bit unique in how we have to tune them.   
> However, I'd suggest that the same can be said for a Baldwin  
> Upright, or a Knabe Grand, or a Schimmel upright (very nice, but  
> with my standard tuning technique they've given me fits once in a  
> while).  Point being, every make has it's own idiosyncrasies, and  
> we've got to develop a technique to work with them all.  So maybe it  
> would be more accurate to say that there will be a learning curve,  
> but it should be pretty steep.
>
> As with most of the work we do, you've just got to be willing and  
> able to adapt your technique to the job at hand. Or, "it's just  
> another piano........."
>
> William R. Monroe
>
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 5:57 AM, Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com 
> > wrote:
> DAVID!!!  Please be careful what you say! You stated that:
> ...there is one particular model
>
> of Steinway I've heard technicians curse, but I never run into
> them.
>
>
> If you have not run into them, then how can you conclude?:
> ...it's just another piano, and no more daunting than any
> other.
>
>
> My experience is that just about any S&S vertical - console, studio  
> upright, upright made since 1950 or so can pose a good bit of a  
> challenge to the average tech. If the pins are fairly tight or  
> tighter in the block, with no tuning bushings, I certainly find   
> these things to be a bit of a bear to tune and be confident they  
> will hold their tune. If yours is an old upright, it probably won't  
> be much different than any other old upright. I have about a dozen  
> S&S verticals in my regular service - a few old ones, but most since  
> 1950.
>
> But don't fear the piano. If you do find setting the pins to be  
> troublesome, just realize it will take a bit more time. Try  
> different motions with your tuning lever and see if you don't find  
> one that works better for you than others. There is a book that I  
> bought maybe ten years ago that addressed nothing but tuning lever  
> technique - what was the name of it? - maybe someone will chime in  
> with the name - it might be good to read that before tuning this  
> piano as it might give you some lever methods you hadn't thought to  
> try.
>
> Terry Farrell
>

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