Greetings, I have been using more left-handed tuning, lately. It helps spread the load and damage among twice as many joints and tendons. I use a slow push to final position in my tuning, mostly. Usually, the last .5 cent is dealt with by using pin flex, so I look for the zone that allows that degree of movement using top string tension, alone. I still occasionally find myself in a herky-jerky snake fight and have to stop and remind myself to pull it sharp and take another shot. The switch to left handed changes the amount of pre-load in the pin due to its directional influence, but I am learning to accommodate that. Sometimes a combination of rotational force and pin flex is needed to leave the string in the zone. It is not uncommon to find a bearing/torque combination that allows a smooth push upwards, just to the pitch I want, to be stable when the hammer is relaxed. Other times, I have to stop short and with a wiggle on the handle, let the note rise to pitch. This is not unlike the Mason&Hamlin screw stringers technique. In the studios, it is common for the piano to be against a wall, or in a box, so that the ability to tune the top octave left handed is utile, indeed. Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.piano-tuners.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html -----Original Message----- From: Jim Ialeggio <jim at grandpianosolutions.com> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Thu, Jan 24, 2013 8:13 am Subject: [pianotech] tuning grands left handed Hey Will and whomevers,I gave my left hand another shot the other day on a nice grand. Now I remember another reason why I abandoned it... lever at 10:00 oclock on a grand, drop pitch, then smooth push to target works very nice, but then as the pin eases itself back from the push, it pulls the speaking length a bit sharp. I remember now, I was having trouble countering this sharpen-ing tendency. It lead me to abandon my dominant hand on grands.Any thoughts.My preferred right handed position is 2 or 3 oclock (grand). To be fair, in this position the apparent pitch often rises (sometimes significantly) over the target, but I have a clear feel where the pin foot is in relation to that overshoot, and how much the pitch will come back (at least a fair amount of the time). So either righty or lefty there is an "interpretation" of where things stand when the lever is released. But lefty, I find that "interpation" zone much harder to read.I bet this has more to do with my limited muscle strength than anything else. Pulling righty from the 2-3 oclock position is quite easy to do physically, which leaves adequate strength to control and relax as things get close. Lefty, even being the dominant side, with the push against the front of the hole, the strength and endurance required may just be be beyond my my physical limits, leaving no room to relax and smell the daisies at the critical moment. But even so, I'm curious what you get in the way of feedback from the front segment and distal pin deflection in that slow lefty CW push....Curious and ready to continue experimenting...Jim Ialeggio-- Jim Ialeggio jim at grandpianosolutions.com978 425-9026Shirley Center, MA
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