I wish to raise a point...

[Norman Barrett]

Hi Paul,

I probably should not mention this as it is embarrassing but you might find it
interesting if not amusing. When I was first starting out I was tuning an old
upright that was about 150 cents flat. This was before the SAT would offset
that far so I was trying to bring it up to 440 by interpolation. Some how I did
something wrong and wound up bring it 100 cents sharp. This should be A = 465.
Not a single string broke and everybody loved the way the piano sounded, (this
was in a store). It was later sold to a customer whose children were taking
Suzuki lessons so I had to bring it back down to 440. It was interesting that
when this was accomplished, the bass, which was very tubby or dead before I
started, sounded quite normal. It may not be possible to ever do this again and
I am not going to find out but I do not fear bringing a piano to pitch because
of breaking strings. This has nothing to do with A 435 or A 440 but just for
your information to keep in the back of your mind.

Norm Barrett
Memphis,  TN

Paul N. Bailey wrote:

> What about pianos that were designed and built for a lower pitch level,
> like 435 or 436?
> (snip)
>
> I often tune old uprights at 435 or 436 if I have reason to think that was
> the intention of the builder. I tell the client, and if they are going to
> be playing with modern wind instruments, I might try to nurse it up to 438.
> If they're happy to pay me to replace broken wires, well....
>