freebies, take 'em

[Dean May]

Ditto. 

Often I'll move the pin back and forth on what would otherwise be a freebie,
and prove to my satisfaction that it really was centered. If it is in tune
from 3-6 months ago and neither firm test blows move it nor nudging of the
hammer back and forth, that string ain't going anywhere. When I come back in
6 months and find it just as stable I feel I have enough anecdotal evidence
to not feel bad in taking some freebies. 

I have lots of pianos with climate control systems on regular schedules that
are very solid when I start tuning. In that situation, if the string is on
and firm test blows are not moving it, why would I want to disrupt it? My
feelings (and experience) are the string will be more solid if I leave it
alone.


Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of David Ilvedson
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 11:33 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: 

Boy, that isn't my experience.   Of course this is California...piano
heaven, but if a string is in tune and firm key action doesn't change it
neither do I...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044


----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman at cox.net>
To: l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net, "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Received: 1/9/2007 6:13:39 AM
Subject: Re: 



>> Do any have a "sense" or knowledge that a piano responds differently to 
>> different tuners such that if tuner A is followed by tuner B, the piano 
>> gets unstable until it settles into the style of tuning from the second 
>> tuner?

>Incidentally, I think a large part of the reason for this is 
>tuners being so willing to accept "freebies". We all leave 
>different "signature" torque and segment tension differences 
>in our tunings. I discovered a long time ago that by moving 
>and re-settling every single string, the resulting tuning is 
>much more stable.
>Ron N