In a message dated 5/9/00 6:43:18 PM Central Daylight Time, a person who shouldn't be in the business of tuning and repairing pianos writes: << It is my opinion that these PSO's are a WOP (waste of parts). >> Never mind what these Acronyms are supposed to stand for, to the kind of person who typically and habitually uses them, they mean that any piano at all which presents a little difficulty, a little challenge, is not worthy of servicing. This kind of person wants you to believe that he/she is the best technician around and that you should aspire to be like him or her. This person wants you to believe that he/she could only be bothered with working on the very finest grands, "rebuilding" them and such. The truth is that such a person has to tune the kind of piano which presents the difficulty in this topic just as all the rest of us do and is just as frustrated by it as the novice technician who posts the question. Undoubtedly, the customer who expressed concern that the tuning was taking upwards of 2 hours had seen her piano tuned many times before with what seemed to be an expert who was at ease with his/her work and who only took about an hour. The key to getting past what seems to be a problem is to understand it for what it is. Those who have mentioned "flagpoling" have identified the greatest if not really the only problem, in my opinion. I am not convinced about any counter bearing problem. If you look at that stringing job, you will probably see that the coils are alarmingly high above the plate and also that there are no plate bushings. Tight pins were also cited. All of these conspire to present the technician with a condition which probably won't be found on too many other vertical pianos. If the tuning pins of a similar piano are at all loose, drive them in for a much improved feel. In the case at hand, the technician may have already lost that customer, so it may be a moot point. But if called again, the piano should be approached with the idea that it *can* be done, there are plenty of good piano technicians who would not find it overly difficult. Richard has the right idea and the position of the tuning hammer idea is also on track. It is a matter of hammer technique. The tuning pin must not be *turned*. In some pianos, you can really tune them as if you were turning a key (as you do in harpsichord tuning) but this piano will respond badly to that kind of technique. The tuning pin will bend and twist and slowly return to or towards its original position. Developing an *impact type technique* of one kind or another is the answer. Not everyone has the same style but what is essential is that the tuning pin be moved with a jarring type motion rather than a smooth pull type movement. Jim Coleman, Sr. RPT's video will demonstrate this. I remember seeing Jim 21 years ago at the Convention in Minneapolis. He put the tuning hammer at 1-2 o'clock and struck it with what I remember looking like a "Karate Chop". The pitch was lowered with the hammer in the same position but with an upward thrust from the palm of the hand. 8 years ago, I bought the "WonderWand" tuning hammer, the kind with the ball end. It immediately felt right to me with the kind of technique I usually use. Many people like it but I have seen some remarks from people who can't see how you could use it at all. Considering this, I urge anyone who has a problem tuning a Steinway Vertical to find the kind of impact technique which seems to work for the individual best. The WonderWand is relatively light in weight. Perhaps a very heavy weighted tuning hammer may exacerbate the problem, especially considering what some have said about how easy it is to change the pitch slightly with minimal contact. If a technician generally prefers a very heavy tuning hammer but has difficulty tuning the Steinway vertical, perhaps using and alternative lightweight hammer may help when confronted with this problem. The hammer technique that Jim Coleman and George Defebaugh taught was second in importance to the kind of procedure they used. The use of muting strips and nearly always assuming that a fine tuning will be the result of tuning the piano at least twice, one rough tuning, one fine tuning. I would suggest that this procedure will help greatly when confronted with the problem of springy, 'flagpoling" tuning pins. Give the piano a rough tuning first, not trying to get it perfect and tuning slightly sharp if raising the pitch any amount at all. Ironically, the Steinway vertical will require a little less of calculated overshoot than most pianos. Whatever instability is the result of springy tuning pins will sort itself out after the rough tuning, the part where there is very little stress because there has been no attempt at nor expectation of the ultimate desired accuracy. In the fine tuning, delicate and slight jarring motions with good, firm test blows will settle each string to the desired pitch. No one at Steinway will ever admit to or acknowledge that there is any problem with the design of or tunability of those pianos. As far as the people who make them and usually service them are concerned, there isn't a problem, so if you personally have difficulty, well... Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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