[pianotech] Experiences of Temperature on Tuning Stability Inquiry...

Bill Fritz pianofritz50 at aol.com
Mon May 9 15:38:20 MDT 2011


Zach... I carry around a big Beach Towel...   (stole one of my daughters' Hard Rock Cafe...  to look "hip")  I use it (folded up) to sit on... so I don't scratch (or sweat too much) on the bench.

However, another good use for it is to throw over the strings of a Grand, if the sun is peeking thru the windows of the residence/church.

The first time I ran into a temperature-only problem was a the HUGE house of some rich person (though they were very nice... most piano customers are that way, but that's another email).

I had gone thru the tenor up to C8, worked on the bass, and then (as always) was going thru the whole tuning to stabilize & make any minor tweaks necessary.  

WOW... what happened to the mid-range?  It had dropped about 3-4 cents.  Much more than I'd ever experienced.  

After I stepped back from the piano (too much focus can be like blinders)... I noticed the large south-facing window about the door entryway, where the piano sat, which was letting sunlight in, shining on that portion of the piano.  DANG!

So I threw the towel over those strings (the plate helped prop up the towel) to block the sun... and worked on the rest of the piano.  After that, w/ the towel still blocking the sun, I measured only minor shifts (aka max +/- 1c) in that section, now.

I wouldn't have thought sunlight only would make that much difference... but it sure did in this instance...

Hope that helps...   Bill Fritz, St Louis 




From:
Zachary LaMotte <zachlamotte at gmail.com>

To:
pianotech at ptg.org

Subject:
[pianotech] Experiences of Temperature on Tuning Stability Inquiry...

Date:
Mon, 9 May 2011 10:17:54 -0500


Dear Fellow Mailing-List Members- 


I am Zach LaMotte (current student at CSPT and newly applied associate member for the PTG!). After extensive research on past discussions in the forums, I have found a lack of talk on the effect of temperature on tuning stability. I am well-read on the impact humidity plays on the piano.


I am requesting (kindly asking/begging) for any experiences, references, crazy stories, where any of you may have had temperature, not humidity, playing a factor on tuning stability. This could be an outside concert situation, stage light situation, mother-in-law making you raise the temperature in the house situation, etc. I will be conducting a temperature-based experiment and will share my findings once the experiment is finished. Thanking all of you in advance.


-Zachary LaMotte
"Aspiring Piano Tuner"

-- 
Be Well,

Zach LaMotte
zachlamotte at gmail.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20110509/9f73f23a/attachment.htm>


More information about the pianotech mailing list

This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC