Strips or wedges

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Bill:

Thanks for sharing your views about strips and wedges. Since many people
have watched my videos on tuning, I thought I should jump in here on this
subject and tell what I really do now as opposed to what I used to do.

I believe it is true that tuning with single wedges can give better
stability. However, there is a difference in how stability works in the
different sections of a piano. I always tune the Bass last because it
changes the least. My present practice is to strip mute the midrange of the
piano. I find that I can tune the unisons in that area by ear much faster
than in using the machine to tune each individual string. I can also hear
higher partials in the range and therefore get better accuracy. I find that I
can tune the upper treble better if I tune each string using the machine.
For this reason, I use only one or two wedges in the upper treble. With the
wedges, I can isolate each string and also listen to the overall effect of
the unisons when I am through. On Grands, I use two fat wedges. The
most stable way to tune the treble is to tune right string first (its length
from V-Bar to tuning pin is the longest and most stable), then tune the 
middle string, and last tune the left string. If the total unison (all three
string sounding together) has slipped, I retune right then and there.

On uprights, I use a wire handled rubber wedge sold by Pianotek. Sometimes
I use a split rubber wedge, tuning the right string first, move the split
wedge to cover boths sides, tune the center string, move the wedge between
the center and right strings while I tune the left string last. If the
unison sounds great, then I move to the next unison.

Next, I tune out the unisons of the center section by ear, listening to the
highest partials I can hear clearly.

Last, I tune out the Bass using a strip sometimes for speed. If the midrange
has drifted the least little bit, I tune the Bass to match and then tune out
the unisons afterward.

All of the above is for fine tuning.

If a pitch raise is necessary, I strip all the way to the top and bottom 
more or less like in the video. Now, with the advent of the SAT III, I can
use the 33% overshoot for the Treble and 25% overshoot for the Bass. It
works real neat.

Jim Coleman, Sr.