Rolling to Pitch

[Joel A. Jones]

Joe,

The piano is 30 years old and I have been tuning
it for about 15 years @ 3/4 times a year.   When
newer it was much better at being stable,  however
as it has aged it has become cantankerous.   A DC
unit was installed and watched carefully 12 years
ago. It is in a very public venue and played moderately
several times a week.  I'm surprised also that I don't
called more often, but I believe money is the final
factor.

Several times I have checked on the piano two weeks
after tuning and could not believe how badly the unisons
had gone sharp or flat.  Sometimes the unisons and
tuning has held beautifully.  The dealer has been very
generous and tended to several possible causes including
gluing wedges into the pinblock/flange area.

I am mystified how I can lower the pitch with the string
stretcher roller in this case at this time of year. I moved
the pitch 20 cents to roughly A-440.

  As I do not let the pitch float  I'm fairly certain this is not a 
factor.
I also tuned for Universities for 40 years, so I'm not that
green - nor is the piano.

Has anybody had experience?
Is there anything I am missing?
Where is the movement in the string going when it
can be lowered without tuning any pins?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Joe
Joel Jones, RPT
Madison, WIl
On Aug 19, 2006, at 9:47 AM, Joe And Penny Goss wrote:

> 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
>>
>