Wurlitzer spinets and false beats

[David Renaud]

Hello
 
    One eliment I am highly suspect of is the upper
termination points in these economy pianos.
 
     No nice agraffs, or a clean polished 
steel bar, or clean smooth something, anything on the
plate to terminate the string on the tuning pin side.
Instead, bass strings wraped up to a 45 degree angle
around hitch pins on a flattened mound of plate that
is rough as sandpapper and fishined in(perhaps
pealing)'insta-gold'. How can a painted sandpaper
texture provide clean termination. 

    It is what it is. 
    It aint what it ain't
  
    So I am learning to not listen for stuff 
that is not there. Knowing a pianos limits is
not a cop-out, but improves my serice; because
I spend my time on what does make a difference.

   An example from a recent tutoring session was 
a demo unision I was tuning. 10sec in I stopped, 
there was still a tiny movement in the tone. We
measured the 3 strings and all strings were within one
tenth of a cent of each other. Movement was clear in a
couple of the single strings. This was as good as it
would get. I could waste a min or 2 trying to clean
the unision. It would not happen. 

   One of the biggest lessons as I mature,
is learning how far I can go, what is my
resposibility, and what is the pianos. I want it 
within .1 cent, but knowing when I am there despite
what I am hearing. Knowing when I have 6:3 in the
bass, or whatever I am doing consistantly in the bass
that day despite the other wildly spread harmonics on
a cheap piano is challenging. 

   Stop listening for stuff that is not there to get.
Know the difference. 

   Interesting, how, somehow with a note having 2
false beats, I still found the center of the pitch
with .1cent quickly. Not sure how that happens, and
how we can hear having reached the end of
possiblilities through junk, but there it is. 

Searching for   
   Confidence balanced by humility.
   Speed balanced with accuracy.
      
I think I tune these cheaper pianos better fast. 
I really do. Looking for stuff that is not there 
hurts my ablilty to focus on what I can do with 
it.  
                                     Cheers
                                     Dave Renaud    
     



 















 





  
        

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