Pitch Raise, was: Standard Pitch

[A440A@aol.com]

Corte writes:

<< as I understand it, whichever direction
you move the pitch, it tends to want to spring back by about a third.  So,
in general, you move the pitch 3 cents in one direction, it will settle
about 1 cent back in the other direction.  This is the whole basis of
overshooting the pitch during pitch raising.<< 

     I think the Sanderson number is 25%.  I have found SAT raises to often 
be dead on when I begin to tune after the raise. One thing I do that I haven't 
seen proposed is that I take my readings an octave above where I am, ie, right 
above the bass break is usually way sharper or flatter than the rest of the 
piano, so I don't set the SAT correction there, I go up about an octave and 
measure. Then I go back to the break note and bring them up.  When I have 
traveled up an octave, I measure another octave above etc.   It isn't uncommon to do 
a 15 cent raise and find that many of the notes are within 2 cents of final 
when I begin the tuning.  

>>Now, if you are fine tuning and you pull the pitch up to 6 cents and then
move it down to the target pitch, it will end up creeping back up by a
couple of cents.  In other words, in my opinion, you're not fine tuning if
you're moving pitches around by 5 or 6 cents as you describe below.  << 

   I haven't found that to be true.  I don't see strings creeping back up 
after I place them.  On a tight pinblock, I am often moving the string down below 
pitch and letting the pin's release pull them back up to almost on target.  
Then a very light wiggle of the hammer upward and the pitch is set. 
    I like a very tight topstring for stability, but most final tuning is 
done with pin flex.  I am very aware of the torque and bend of the tuning pins as 
I go through a piano, and a number of the pianos in my clientele are tuned 
100 times a year.  The use of pin flex doesn't necessarily damage the pin or 
block.(in fact, you can't turn a pin with 120 lbs of torque without flexing it).  
 
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT 
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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