Steinway "S"?

[Ken Burton]

            Del,

            Thank you for your comments. The Heintzman and Mason and Hamlin
pianos are definitely Type C pianos where the tuning pin often turns before
the pitch changes.
            But I had forgotten the exact characteristics of the Steinway
uprights. I have only two of them in my clientele. When a piano does as you
describe--the pitch changes before the pin turns--I call it a Type B piano.
            The only approach I know is to move the pin very carefully and
to avoid flagpoling as much as possible. After moving the pin, the pull of
the string will restore the necessary bend and twist which the pin assumes
for the long haul. The counter-clockwise push to create these will usually
not be necessary. Just pull till the pitch is a hair above exact and let go.
            With experience, you don't even think about these things. Your
hand knows what to do.

                        Ken Burton "Doctor Piano" Calgary Alberta
                                   kwburton@cadvision.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Delwin D Fandrich <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Friday, February 05, 1999 9:43 AM
Subject: Re: Steinway "S"?


>
>
>Ken Burton wrote:
>
>> (snip...snip)
>>             Steinway uprights share a problem with Heintzman uprights and
>> Mason and Risch pianos--they have a v-bar or capo system that tends to
>> produce severe friction as the wire tries to move. I call them "Type C"
>> pianos because the tuning pin often moves before the pitch changes.
>
>-----------------------------------
>
>Ken,
>
>I don't remember enough about the Heintzman design to say anything about
them,
>but the problem with the Steinway vertical is just the opposite.  There is
not
>enough friction across the V-bar/pressure bar.  To get any semblance of a
>"tuned-duplex" system in the vertical design requires using either an
extremely
>tall V-bar -- which is undesirable for a number of technical reasons -- or
an
>extremely shallow string deflection angle across the V-bar.  The latter
approach
>was chosen by the designers of the Steinway vertical.  This string angle is
to
>small to adequately terminate the speaking portion of the string, hence
there is
>a lot of energy bleed across the V-bar and it is to small to provide enough
>friction to stabilize the tuning.
>
>I worked on a lot of these through the 70's and into the 80's.  In some
cases it
>was possible to alter the tuning simply by applying finger pressure on the
>tuning pin.  The problem can be solved, but the solutions are really not
>practical even in the rebuilding shop, let alone in the field.  It's best
to
>work on your tuning technique.
>
>Regards,
>
>Del
>
>