Rolling to Pitch

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Joel,
You do not mention the age of the piano. I find that years old is not as
important as how many times the piano is tuned at the desired pitch level,
ie A440. I refer to a seldom tuned piano as a green piano, the same or
similar to a new piano.
My theory of  what is happening is the stiffness of the wire forms a rounded
^ as it crosses each termination point.
Over time it forms a sharper ^, and this change drops the pitch of that
wire.
If you fine tuned at A440 I suspect this technique will not give you the
same results a second time.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel A. Jones" <jajones2 at wisc.edu>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 7:14 AM
Subject: Rolling to Pitch


> List,
>
> I am mystified at what happened yesterday to a piano that
> is tuned several times a year.  Last tuned in May at A-440
> I found the overall pitch to be 20 + cents sharp.  Since this
> piano is not my favorite so an extreme solution came to my
> devilish mind.
>
> Using the string roller I proceeded to go over every steel
> string using generous force.   This accomplished two things.
> 1. It made me feel better physically as I rolled back and forth
> on the strings.  2.  It brought the pitch down close enough so
> that a one pass tuning was possible.
>
> Question:
> Why did this work?
>
> Where was all the 'slack'
> in the strings that put the pitch close to A-440?
>
> Anyone have this experience particularly at this
> time of year when the pitch is traditionally sharp?
>
> Will this work if I roll the tenor strings above the bass break
> where they  are usually sharper than the rest of the
> piano after Summer humidity?
>
> Totally mystified in Madison.
>
> Joel
>
> Joel Jones, RPT
> Madison, WI
>