>Not to associate "stubborn tunings" with Samick pianos, but those are the ones that give me the most frequency with this problem most likely due to the fact that I have two dealers selling them under different names and so I see a lot of them. I've experienced the same phenomenum (sp) on large grands and almost always on 9 footers. > >Stubborn tunings........... In the process of tuning, you try to set the pin, settle the string, equalize the tension at all points of bearing on the string. To acheive this is to have a very stable tuning and a happy customer. I've experienced this lately with a new twist. Armed with some info someone posted about seating the strings at the bridge pins, and also having heard the same from a class at a PTG seminar somewhere, I thought I'd get smart and actually apply some technique using my dead brain full of useful information. One piano in particular was exhibiting some classic symptoms. I'd pull the note up, jiggle the tuning pin to relieve the stored torque, apply a test blow and hope for a dead beat. After many failed attempts, usually I start beating the crap out of the note partly out of frustration and partly because that usually works. Lately, I've noticed it doesn't work anywhere near as well as stopping, seating the strings, and then trying again. As I get older I get more gooder I guess. Today I had a note that was being stubborn, and so I used my screwdriver and the palm of my hand to gently seat the strings around the bridge pins and had instant results. > >Some points I'd like to make here. > >Seating the strings.........basically pushing on the string right at the bridge pin using a very light tapping motion and then traveling with that tapping motion towards the back bridge pin. This tapping should not be hard enough to dent the bridge but enough to SEAT the string tight against the bridge and the bridge pin. > >Screw driver blade............... proper tool is a piece of very hard wood, or some brass rod stock with a wood dowel for a handle (not mounted T fashion , but rather inline/inserted with the brass rod). I have one that I filed the end to a very blunt taper, enough so I can get at the junction of the string with the bridge pin. The screw driver blade I used was a Schaff combo handle tool that bends when looked at from the wrong angle and I used it knowing it was the wrong tool and used it carefully so as not to cause damage to the "harder than the blade" piano wire. Using the palm of my hand gently I didn't feel had enough energy/enertia to cause trouble with the string. The above mentioned "proper" tool I use with a small hammer head, small enough to fit in my hand, and with no handle. I use it to tap on the wood dowel that is on the end of the brass rod, total length of about 6" or about the distance from A to L on your computer's keyboard for those of you who don't use American measurements (Canucks and such eh??). The key is to provide enough tap to move the string firmly against the pin and the bridge but not so much power as to create a dent in the wood of the bridge cap. > The little rivers and streams are starting to mellow out, and the BIG MUTHAS are still the boss. With some more sunshine and drying winds, we should be back into full swing by next week. What a pain avoiding flooded roads, mudslides, missing roads, cars parked on their door handles, and basic general mayhem everywhere. >I do believe I can smell some homemade Huckleberry Liqueur about to greet me. Gotta go guys, sorry. > >Lar > > > > Larry Fisher RPT, Metro Portland, Oregon's Factory Preferred Installer for PianoDisc Products phone 360-256-2999 or Email larryf@pacifier.com If at first it doesn't fit, get a bigger hammer
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