<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Jan 8, 2007, at 2:06 PM, Michelle Stranges wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">I would be VERY interested in viewing the number of passes you folks do to bring a<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>piano up to pitch and whether or not you've experienced this-especially on ones that aren't so old.</FONT></P> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I take smaller increments with pianos older than say 35 or 40 years. I don't like to move them more than 40 or 50 cents at the time, so I will choose a target pitch I think the piano can handle. A lot of times, my target is pulling everything up to the highest point - which is usually a note somewhere in the bass. The older they are, I might make smaller increments as I get closer to 440. I just don't like to make big uneven changes to the overall tension of the structure on older pianos. A more conservative first pass also seems to give me an indication of the condition of the wire, and what the piano is capable of. But with "newer" pianos I'll target the pitch at 440 on the first pass.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>With raises of more than 40 cents, I'll make my first pass just to my target pitch. I don't like to have large overpulls. I use the pitch raise function on the second pass. The overpull will then be much smaller and more uniform. I will make a third pass if needed.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Like Ed, I make it very clear to the customer a pitch raise isn't likely to last very long, and it can take several tunings to establish stability. I just recently came up with a new analogy -- filling the gas tank on your car. If you keep it topped off, it is always ready to go anywhere with smaller more frequent incremental costs. If you wait until the tank is empty and need to fill it up for a trip, that fill-up is going to cost a lot more. Unfortunately, too many piano owners approach piano maintenance like I approach my gas tank. I wait until it is empty, but rarely ever completely fill it up.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I am a smooth pull tuner. With my gentle pressure pull-push, I can feel every movement the pin makes. I've tried jerk tuning, and don't feel in control. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I have very rarely broken a string while tuning - maybe one every year or so. And yes, it has happened on the fine tuning pass after a pitch adjustment, but usually on old or cheap pianos. And it has also happened on a brand new Steinway L that was at pitch. I don't recall a string having broken on the pitch raise pass, but it's probably happened. I haven't kept records, but if I had to say, the strings I've broken while tuning would have less to do with pitch raise or tuning technique than wire condition, or in the case of bass strings, the angle of the wire coming off the coil. I read something once, perhaps on this list, an old "rule of thumb" of who is at fault with broken strings, perhaps attributed to Baldwin? It said that if the string breaks at the capo, the piano is at fault, if it breaks at the coil, the tuner is to blame. But I don't necessarily buy that either.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Jeff</DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>Jeff Tanner, RPT</DIV><DIV>University of South Carolina</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>