pitch rise /was: no tunings, no drivel

[Michael Jorgensen]

Don wrote:

> Hi Duncan,
>
> I have never come to a piano to find a string broken from environmental
> change.

     Neither have I, except on harpsichords, once setting off a chain
reaction.
     We had a Hamilton plate crack from going sharp.   I'd tuned it several
years without noticing the repair, (On the back and behind the keybed). My
predecessor, Van Grimley, repaired it when the piano was just a couple years
old.   Baldwin would fix it if we paid the shipping which was almost as much
as the piano.  Van removed the remaining tension, realigned everything, and
through bolted steel splints for plate braces and a large steel plate to a
broken back post.  It always tuned normally and was stable.
    Nine years ago a wholesaler bought it and re-sold it in Iowa.  The tuning
pins weren't loose, so I'll bet it's still alive in someone's clientele.
Don't know the serial number, but it's a well worn blonde from the early 60s.
-Mike Jorgensen