[pianotech] Fwd: Boston GP-178

[Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft]

From Terry Farrell. He is unable to post to our list.

Thanks for the info Terry.

Al -
High Point, NC



Begin forwarded message:

From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Boston GP-178
Date: May 15, 2012 10:39:09 AM EDT
To: Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft <alliedpianocraft at hotmail.com>

Hi Al,

I'm replying to you privately, but only because I can't post to the Pianotech List - my subscription got screwed up a year or two ago and they won't let me re-subscribe - so here I am a PTG member and can't interact with other fellow techs the way I'd like to. But more to the point.......

I owned a Boston GP-178 for about eight years - I think it was built in the mid-1990s. It was the nicest piano I serviced. For years I tuned it fairly regularly, every four months or so. And even then the "tuning" was really a light touch-up. I don't have whole-house humidity control, but I did have a good four-rod Dampp-Chaser dehumidier system on it (no humidifier). I live near Tampa, Florida.

One time, I guess I got lazy, I let the tuning go for about 18 months. There may have been a couple strings up in the high treble that were five cents or so out, but everything else was still within one or two cents. I had saved the tuning on my SAT at the time, so I was able to compare the tuning state note-by-note quite accurately. That piano was by far the most stable piano I have ever run across.

I had done some Stanwood-type evening out of the action touchweight and some standard but thorough maintenance on the piano - it was and very, very nice piano.

I sold it two or three years ago now to a church. I still see it every six months for a service call. The lady who plays it at the church always asks me "why did you sell such a nice piano?"

I still find it quite stable at the church, but I think with the church AC going on and off as they do (it's only on on Sundays and Wednesdays), that does take a small toll on the tuning. The DC dehumidification system is still on the piano and they have a nice heavy quilt cover on the piano.

If you care to post this to the Pianotech List, please feel free. I hope you found some of this to be of interest.

Terry Farrell
Farrell Piano Service, Inc.


On May 15, 2012, at 9:33 AM, Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft wrote:

> Here I am, a year later, blown away by this piano again. A little background this time. I first tuned this piano in 2006 with a pitch raise and tuning. The piano was between -30 and -75 cents. Tuned it again 4 months later in May. I found it at 441 and tuned it there.
> 
> I've been tuning it at 440 every year in May, since then. I wrote about it last year when I found the furthest notes out at -6 and +2 cents. Returned this year to find the furthest notes out to be -3 and +2. Totally unbelievable! This piano has no humidification system, but the owner says there is a whole house humidification unit in their heating system. I find the temperature is at 70° ± 1 and the humidity is at 42% ± 2.
> 
> I just had to share this again. I find it very hard to believe. This piano is like a rock. Then there's the church with a GH1, that's out of tune after breathing near it for 5 minutes.
> 
> Al -
> High Point, NC
> 
> 



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