test blows

[cswearingen@daigger.com]

Hi Don (and everyone),

Ok, in my case, I'm a fairly new tuner (and a part-time tuner at that).  My
own piano is a Yamaha U1 and I have a Dampp-Chaser system installed.  I
tune my piano about every 2 or 3 months and each time before I tune, when I
measure with my Verituner, all notes seem to be off by 2 or 3 cents?  So,
in my opinion, the piano goes out of tune enough in 2-3 months that I feel
it necessary to retune.  Many times, I notice unisons starting to go out
slightly after only a few weeks of playing (the piano gets played daily).
Would most of you experienced tuners consider this normal or would you
expect a piano with a Dampp-Chaser to remain in tune for longer?  In your
opinion, should an experienced tuner be able to get a tuning that stays
right on for 6 months or is this asking too much?

I use a nicely designed impact hammer for uprights and a special T-impact
hammer for grands.  As I move the pin, I'm playing the note once every
second or two and playing each note maybe 6-8 times with a forte blow
before I feel everything is settled and stabilized.  I'm not a fast tuner
by any means.  I always do two passes - a 30 minute pitch raise followed by
a fine tuning.  It takes be about 2 hours to do a pitch raise and fine
tuning.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Corte


                                                                                                         
                      Don                                                                                
                      <pianotuna@access        To:       Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>                   
                      comm.ca>                 cc:                                                       
                      Sent by:                 Subject:  Re: test blows                                  
                      pianotech-bounces                                                                  
                      @ptg.org                                                                           
                                                                                                         
                                                                                                         
                      08/18/2003 09:57                                                                   
                      PM                                                                                 
                      Please respond to                                                                  
                      Pianotech                                                                          
                                                                                                         
                                                                                                         




Hi Corte,

Define stable. Would 2 cents change over 30 months fit? Of course this is
*only* possible if humidity is controlled.

David, of course the client pays (or in the case of tapping on strings does
the labor themselves). We are not running a charity. Yes some coils need to
be lifted--but I do that with an impact type of coil lifter--so I'm still
tapping--just upwards.

I'd love to have someone show me how to tighten beckets. So far my efforts
have produced no change in pitch--which I assume should be there. Comments?

I believe that a more accurate term would be "settling the pin" rather than
"setting the pin". What is the vector of force on the pin from the string?
If the pin is settled in that direction it can move no farther.

Compression set has been a very common thread recently. If the
board/bridges have "finished" that process then the instrument will be more
stable--but it won't be a piano necessarily any more. There are exceptions.

At 12:31 AM 8/19/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>I've heard stories that Franz Mohr used extremely hard test blows when
>tuning.  Of course, I've also heard that his tunings were rock-solid
>stable.  There seems to be a correlation here.
>
>Any further comments?
>
>Corte Swearingen
>    I'm certainly not going through the following hassle:
><<Third step tap at the hitch pin, before and after rear duplex, before
>bridge pin, on bridge pin, in front of bridge pin, middle of the string
>length on the bridge, behind sounding length bridge pin, on sounding
length
>bridge pin, sounding length, and lift strings on tuning pin side of
>aggraff.>>  Not without charging quite a bit extra, anyhow.
>    <<The coils had never been tapped and the pitch dropped over 100 cents
on some notes.>>
> Yes, but what I find more often are beckets that need squeezing farther
into the pin.  Sometimes the coils need pulling up as much as tapping down,
to get them tightly against each other and square to the pin.
>    And, rock-solid only lasts until the humidity changes enough to swell
or relax the soundboard.  What's puzzling is that some older pianos hardly
drift out of tune at all, even over a period of 5 years.
>    --David Nereson, RPT

Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.

mailto:pianotuna@accesscomm.ca
http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/

3004 Grant Rd.
REGINA, SK
S4S 5G7
306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
_______________________________________________
pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives