Elian, I've been following the replies to date, and since you're due for a return visit on Wednesday, thought I'd kick in some statistics from my files. For this reply, I have intentionally ignored any statements about what you have checked or done on your particular piano. I've experienced "so-called" tuning instability problems on Yamahas many times, both privately and as potential challenges to warranty. In each of the following, the pianos were Yamaha's, and I was called when other efforts failed (which explains my having notes). This is what I found: Complaint in all cases -- "won't stay in tune"; "failure to hold a tune"; "tuning instability", or other similar wording. Case #1: Piano in church, received regular tunings. Problem: Piano sitting over a heating/air conditioning air *return* register. Case #2: Piano in church, received regular tunings. Problem: Church had wide humidity swings between services. The air conditioning or heat cycled on/off (not up/down) when services were not being conducted. Piano responded accordingly. Case #3: Piano in church, received regular tunings. Church had moisture problems filtering up to sanctuary from foundation. Problem: Building was erected over the bed of an old natural spring, unknown until years later. Ultimately corrected, but at great expense, and not just piano-related expenses. Interim fix for piano was DC de-humidifier and Humidistat (only -- no additional humidity required). 8-} Case #4: Piano in home, no tunings at all since <unknown>, including no initial service bond(s) work. Problem: Obvious. Case #5: Piano in home, tuning record unknown. Problem: Gray market instrument still trying to find the goal post. The next two cannot be isolated, since they've happened so many times: 1. Piano <anywhere>, several tunings performed. Problem: Piano still "green" for all practical purposes, i.e., considering string stretch and location -- or sometimes multiple locations, instrument simply had not received enough tunings to stabilize, and client (and sensitivity to tuning) was jumping the gun in their expectations. 2. Piano <anywhere>, several tunings performed. Problem: [previous] tuner was a "soft" tuner. Summary from my perspective: (a) Each of the churches above had regular tunings. Regular tunings and churches is often a contradiction in terms. However, due to the extremes of pitch/tuning swings, these churches had little choice. (b) None of these examples were caused by an intrinsic problem (structural integrity, etc.); rather, they were all external to the piano. (c) I applaud your concerns, but they may be ill-timed -- too soon. (d) There is nothing wrong with the Yamaha in your care (again my opinion). It probably fits into one of the items above, *or* a variation thereof. Regardless of the age of the piano, if you do not know the origins and former history of the piano prior to your efforts, coupled with the fact that you had to do a pitch raise, all bets are off ! Your approach should assume the piano has never been serviced, and proceed from there. Two suggestions: 1. During the next tuning, go through the pitch raise *procedure* again, even though the overall pitch does not dictate this. Simply put, plan to tune the piano twice (and completely) during the same visit. 2. After you're satisfied with your tuning, pick one note in the last octave, say, G or A below C-88. Play that note repeatedly about 15 or 20 times, and firmly but short of being intentionally abusive. See what happens to your unison. Re-tune the unison, and repeat the test. See how many times you can repeat this test before the unison remains stable. If you try this, I'd be interested in knowing the results. I've tried to maintain focus, without going into other brands, or other things that were called tuning instability that turned out not to be. If you don't find the problem as a result of this reply, at least you have some more ammunition. Jim Harvey, RPT -- someone who's been in the field too long. ------------- At 02:26 PM 8/29/98 -0400, you wrote: >My experience with Yamaha, and I have seen lots of them in the last years, >is as the easiest piano to tune and Yamaha tunnings last a long time ( they >have greater stability than many pianos. ) [cut]
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