[CAUT] huge pitch raise question

[A440A at aol.com]

<< 
I would be VERY interested in viewing the number of passes you folks  
do to bring a  piano up to pitch and whether or not you've  
experienced this-especially on ones that aren't so old. >>

I can't explain why strings are breaking on newer pianos without knowing 
where they break, (and even then, it would be a guess). 
    However, if a piano is extremely flat, I bring it to pitch in one pass, 
then tune it to a usable condition, making sure the customer knows the tuning 
will not last.  I love the SAT function for this, but if the piano is over 50 
cents flat, I don't go more than 8 cents sharp for the correction. 
     I have never found incremental pitch raises to be a faster way of having 
a piano in tune, at pitch.  I make sure the customer knows the danger before 
I start, and it is a good idea to listen for rattles or buzzes before you 
touch the insides, lest you be blamed for anything out of perfection when you are 
done with the rough work. It doesn't hurt to check the plate bolts before you 
start, and this is a real good time to take a careful, holistic, look at the 
piano.  If there is a plate crack already there, you certainly don't want to 
inherit the liability.  
    Education of the customer is the root of return business and it isn't 
easy getting technical info across without wearing out at least one or two 
analogies.  For pitch raises, I favor the golf green example, ie, if you ignore a 
green for several months, there is no way to mow it once or twice and have it 
ready for play.  For the non-golfing clientele, I explain it as a yard mowing 
problem, or pruning a hedge, or maybe digging out an old dried up baseball glove 
that needs not only a lot of oil, but some use before it is ready to really 
play, again.  
   You can try to explain that wood takes some time to adjust to the new 
pressure, but whatever you do, warn about strings letting go and that the first 
couple of visits are not going to yield the stability that the customer is 
entitled to.  Explain that long neglected pianos require some "catch-up" tunings to 
return to stability, and even if it is several tunings on two or more trips, 
the total cost will be far less than if the piano had been tuned twice a year 
all those neglected years.  



Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html