Convention hints?

[Bdshull@AOL.COM]

Lance,

I believe this technique is the historical basis for the use of the term 
"tuning hammer."  The tuning wrench was also once used to "equalize" tension. 

Bill Shull, RPT
University of Redlands, La Sierra University, Riverside City College

<< John Patton, with Steinway, showed us (among many other things) how he 
tunes
 unisons using a hammer shank.  Yep.  He would tune one unison, then bring
 another unison in close to the first and then (with the shank already in his
 lever hand) push on the out of tune unison with the shank to equalize the
 tension among the string segments and bring it into tune.  He said that many
 times you just can't beat all of the segments into equal tension and the
 shank helps to do that and make a more stable tuning.  That technique was
 new to me. >>