[pianotech] interesting situation with a tuning

[Ryan Sowers]

Stability and pin setting are the most challenging aspect of tuning. I've
been at this seriously for almost 20 years and still feel like every year I
get a little better. I thought I was hot stuff in my 20's but looking back
I'm sure I was fairly mediocre.

On a call back there are certain things the piano will tell you in regards
to your stability. If the overall octaves and temperament are even, but just
the unisons are mainly out, I would say the tuner is possibly at fault. If
the octaves have changed - especially between the bass and tenor sections
then humidity is surely to blame. Indoor temperature has very little to do
with it. Clients are often proud that they keep the temperature in the piano
room the same throughout the year, and are surprised that it makes no
difference - the piano will still go out of tune with the weather changes
outside.

That colder air in the winter can't hold much moisture. When you bring it
inside and warm it up, it can become very dry and really suck the moisture
out of the piano. Even in a mild climate like the Pacific NW, pianos can
drop 20 cents or more between summer and winter.

One of the most challenging stability situations is with high friction in
the strings between the tuning pin and the speaking length. I often
lubricate the strings with Protek to help them glide over under-string felt.
I'm not sure how a blind person would manage that - perhaps enlisting help
from the client would be in order.

Keep finding mentors that you can rely on to help you along. This is a
life-long learning process. That's what keeps int interesting!

Ryan

On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 6:38 PM, Marshall Gisondi
<pianotune05 at hotmail.com>wrote:

>  Hi Everyone,
> First thank you William for the contact info of the insurance person that
> the PTG uses.  I meant to write sooner but it's been hectic lately.
>
> Today I tuned for one of my regular customers, a church with several
> pianos.  A month ago I tuned one of the pianos in their fellowship hall, a
> Kawai 506N.  Today I'm told that it sounded funny during one of their
> Wednesday night services which was held in the fellowship hall  The piano
> was out of tune somewhat. I had to redo the temperament and some of the
> octaves.  The tuning pins had a strange feel to them, almost as if they had
> torque, but at the same time they didn't have good torque. They felt tight
> but not terribly, but moved without too much trouble.  Some flag polled
> easily if I wasn't careful. I needed a smaller tip but didn't have one. I
> have one size so far which has served me well, but once bills are caught up
> it's time to go shopping. :-)  In fact I set one pin and tested it, and it
> moved just by placing the tip on the pin.  So in setting them I had to pound
> away and make such tiny movements.  So what I'm wondering is, did the tunig
> go out because of something I did, the type of piano it is, temp/humidity
> change?  I was told the temp didn't change in this room. If the temprature
> is constant inside how much does outside tempratures/conditions affect the
> piano?  This one was a puzzler because they've been telling me that my
> tunings hold long.  In fact on a Yamaha GA1 the one Yamaha discontinued, my
> tunings are holding longer than the last person they used.  Am I losing any
> ability, or did I run into a problem piano?
>
> Is the 506N a lower end Kawai and defective like the Yamaha G1 that was
> discontinued?  Thanks everyone
> Marshall
>
>
> Marshall Gisondi Piano Technician
> Marshall's Piano Service
> *pianotune05 at hotmail.com*
> 215-510-9400
> *www.phillytuner.com *
> Graduate of The School of Piano Technology for the Blind
> www.pianotuningschool.org Vancouver, WA
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Ryan Sowers, RPT
Puget Sound Chapter
Olympia, WA
www.pianova.net
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