Tuning Steinway Verticals

[Susan Kline]

At 07:11 PM 9/16/2003 -0400, Ed wrote:
>.  I have a couple of
>pre-1900 Steinway uprights that tune like dream-boats!!!  Where did they go
>wrong??

Hi, Ed

Yeah, the old ones were wonderful. The worst is that some old teachers wore 
them out
from decades of use, and then scared up a ton of cash to replace them with
new Steinway uprights, and ended up with 1098's.

Looking at the darned thing during the 3+ hours, I tried to define what
was wrong. They don't have plate bushings, and the coils stand pretty proud
of the pinblock, so they flex too much. Whether the pins themselves are
too flexible, I don't know. Then, instead of the tiny little "duplex"
area that most uprights have -- less than 1/2", usually -- they made a
longer one, no doubt trying for more ring, like a grand would have.
Heavily played, this longer duplex starts to make zingers just
like its big brother long grands. And perhaps the soundboard design
allows for more false beats -- there were a ton of them, anyway.
The mound was very high and the pressure bar very
big. Now, I like a big pressure bar, and the old ones had really huge
bars, and sounded and tuned well. But perhaps the mound and bar makes
for too much friction, and difficult rendering.

In fact, one could simply say that the whole trouble with them (aside
from some false beats) is simply poor rendering.

I must say, though, that once I get one really in tune, it has an
interesting sound and is fun to play. That is, if I have the strength of
mind to forget how it was to tune, so I feel like playing it.

Susan