pitch raise

[Leslie W Bartlett]

Thanks for all the input on pitch raising!   I think I'll give them up
for Lent, next year, and call that my personal sacrifice for the season. 
One of the reasons for asking the question in the first place was to help
get a mental picture of the many ways people perceive the process of
pitch raising, and, at which point they expect "long term" stability.

After the discussions I think I understand that  a) pitch raises happen,
and b) they can be gotten fairly close, if the deviation isn't oh, 50
cents or more, and c) on can expect instability to show itself after,
say, at least five minutes. I do think one needs to place this pitch
raise issue in the larger context of pianos which the tech regularly
sees.  Me, I see a lot of PSO's and pianos that haven't been tuned in
five + years.  I do hope that I am at least slightly correct when I say
that a piano left unattended for five years will have strings which will
stretch beyond the initial pitch raise, simply because they haven't been
brought to proper tension in a long time.  

I also believe that a pitch raise to one who's tuned 500-700 pianos isn't
going to be as accurate or as stable as one who's tuned 5000-7000+
pianos, as there are subtleties that grow into the tuning arm over
decades that no amount of lecturing or discussion can eradicate.  I'm not
in the 5000 piano range by a long shot.  This was brought home to me by a
"young" tuner who's having difficulties with basic stuff that no longer
even enters consciousness for me, but which bothered me no end some three
years or so.  I am reminded that there isn't really much to learn about
tuning, but what is learned is gained over and over again at deeper
levels.  I also sense that I cannot rush those subtle learnings, even
though it's maddening to realize there is so much more to internalize
before I can feel comfortable about tuning.

I would be curious, those who say they can do a pitch raise in one
sitting, of, say 50%+, do you expect strings to slip not-at-all, or do
you hand the customer a technical bulletin and say, "I'll guarantee this
tuning till I get off this bench", then immediately stand up? In a week,
how much might you "expect" the stability to slip?  I figure these are
largely impossible questions to accurately answer, but I'm still looking
for generalities.

Thanks to all who've contributed to my little store of knowledge!
les bartlett
houston
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