Steinway upright tuning

[Ken Burton]

            Larry,

            You are quite right. Tuning left-handed has real advantages,
though I am scared to try it.
            Paul Brown of Vancouver, BC, tunes uprights with his left hand
and grands with his right, until he gets up to about F6, then he switches to
his left hand.
            He has another innovation in his technique--with uprights, he
places the hammer at about the 8:30 position, rests the three smaller
fingers of his left hand on the top of the piano and grips the hammer handle
with his thumb and forefinger. Then, by merely tightening the grip of his
hand, he can turn the tuning pin. He says, "Because my hand does all the
work, there is not strain on my arm or my back. I'm never tired after a
day's tuning."
            It never ceases to amaze me that so many different techniques
are being used in piano tuning. And, they can all be made to work!
                        Ken Burton "Doctor Piano" Calgary Alberta
                                   kwburton@cadvision.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Larry J. Messerly <prescottpiano@juno.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Friday, February 05, 1999 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: Steinway upright tuning


>
>As a natural lefty I was taught to tune grands right handed.  You
>righties should practice tuning verticals left-handed.  Start out doing
>it on all pitch raises until you get some practice in, then keep working
>at it.  It does make tuning easier, helps in wall situations where there
>is not enough room for your elbow, and if you have a sprain or injured
>hand/wrist as I did a few years ago you may be able to keep tuning.  (I
>could move my wrist okay but couldn't span an octave!)
>
>Larry Messerly RPT
>Phoenix/Prescott
>A Real "Bald-one"
>
>On Fri, 05 Feb 1999 09:36:45 -0500 Clyde Hollinger <cedel@redrose.net>
>writes:
>>Friends:
>>
>>For once it's nice to find lefthandedness a plus!  :-)
>>
>>Clyde Hollinger
>>Lititz, PA
>>
>>Newton Hunt wrote:
> 2.    Keep the tuning hammer in the 10:00 o'clock position so that
>the stress is more horizontal than vertical.  It would be better at
>9:00 o'clock but most of us are right handed tuners so this is not a
> comfortable option.
>
>
>
>
>
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