[CAUT] huge pitch raise question

[Michelle Stranges]

Thank you Ed.
Great post! (as usual..)

So can I ask you... do you feel "extra"  (more than normal) friction  
upon tuning it the second time around on your "fine tuning"?
I don't like that it feels like this at all.
And you bring it to pitch in one pass.. hmmm...maybe I should  
investigate this instead of my usual routine of "ripping the band-aid  
off slowly" type of pitch raising.
These strings break most of the time on the second pass, and while  
this doesn't happen ALL the time, I sure can fell something really  
different which I don't understand.

Thank you very much!!

:)
Michelle

On Jan 8, 2007, at 2:24 PM, A440A at aol.com wrote:

>
> <<
> 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
>