Rolling to Pitch

[Dean May]

Joel

My experience tells me that whenever a piano goes that much sharp you've got
humidity problems. 

Does the DC have a bottom cover? If the piano is in an area of air movement
the DC is going to have a hard time keeping it stable. 

I trust you always record the pitch before tuning so looking at your history
with this piano you can see if it is unusual for the piano to go this much
sharp. If that is so, very likely that the piano was unplugged for a time
and someone plugged it back in right before you came to tune it. I have the
hardest time in some public venues with keeping the DC's plugged in. I've
gone to putting signs on the fallboard, on the stage trucks, and on the wall
outlet. I've even carry with me in the van a 6 outlet adaptor that I will
offer to the customer if the problem is simply a crowded outlet. 

If your history shows that the piano does have a propensity to go sharp you
may need to add one or two more dehumidification bars. And make sure it has
a bottom cover. Others on the list also recommend a string cover for really
problem pianos. I've never had to go that route. 

Blessings,

Dean

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Joel A. Jones
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 1:44 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Rolling to Pitch

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
>>
>