Yamaha out of tune

[BopPiano@aol.com]

Elian,    you say some are up and some are down.  A pattern is important and
informative in this sense - pianos drifting from their tuning (assuming that
the pins were set properly to begin with and that the tuning was stable at
that point) will do so usually with an evenness.  The right strings of the
unisons being more or less the same amount out and the left in a similar
pattern of their own.  This would be typical of climatic fluctuations
especially if the bass stays very close to where it was left.  If, from string
to string, you find random and uneven  differences you could look at
structural issues but the most common culprit is humidity change.  I don't
know where you are, but in Boston this time of year the humidity changes from
day to day and even hour to hour.   As I write, it is 58% at my desk.  Three
hours ago it was in the 70% range and tomorrow could bring anything.   I
advise my clients who call at this time of year that this is an exceedingly
unstable period and if they need or want, I will tune but they should know the
likely outcome.  Again, look for an even or uniform pattern in the out of
tuneness, if it's all over the place look at pin setting, string seating,
plate seating and so on in that order.   DampChasers can help moderate
humidity fluctuations but I don't thing they can keep up with a breeze coming
through a window for instance.              Gary Ford