birdcage tuning

[vince mrykalo]

Hello Anne,
What were the pitch levels for those over damper
pianos built before the turn of the last century built
to take?  Maybe that's too general a question.  How
about the ones built in Great Britain between 1890 and
1900?  Where would one go to research these things
out?

> > From: a.acker at comcast.net (Anne Acker)
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:00:07 +0000
> Subject: birdcage tuning
> 
> 
> The real question is, why would you ever tune a
> piano never designed for A440 to be A440?   It's
> like asking you to carry an elephant about.  You
> just aren't designed for it, and your frame will
> suffer for it.
> 
> This is a common source of damage to 19th century
> pianos, btw.   "Well-meaning" repeated pitch raises
> to A440, even employing overpulls to achieve it.,
> gradually destory the frame and pinblock, and then
> the techs will say the piano design or construction
> was defective.  Well, not necessarily.  It was just
> asked to to more than it was designed to do.
> 
> The worst case I know is a piano signed by
> Paderewski on the pinblock.  A "well meaning tuner"
> at an important university kept pulling up this
> French piano (which were often A430) and managed to
> turn the pinblock into the grand canyon.  Repairing
> it would have destoryed the signature.  Cute.  the
> instrument became worth only the value of the
> signature and the owner (who was storing it there at
> his alma mater) sued.
> 
> It behooves you to do your homework on older pianos
> before choosing a pitch level.  
> 
> Anne


      Vince Mrykalo RPT MPT
  University of Utah
   
  "Minél több a változás, annál nagyobb az állandoság"
   
  The more I learn, the less I know.
   
  www.mrykalopiano.com






 
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