[pianotech] Boston Question

Ron Nossaman rnossaman at cox.net
Wed Apr 22 10:00:57 PDT 2009


Avery Todd wrote:
> List,
>  
> I just had a call about a Boston GP193 (7' ish) that's app. 10 yrs. old 
> with a persistent tuning problem in the upper 2-3 octaves. The unisons 
> won't stay in tune. The owner has checked with several technicians & one 
> even told him that the problem was inherent in that age of that piano & 
> that there's no fix for the problem that he'd heard about. Newer 
> versions no longer have the problem, he said.
>  
> I've never run across that particular one and have never heard of this 
> (I've tuned very few Bostons). Has anyone else? Does anyone know of a 
> "fix" for this problem, short of a redesign/rebuild? The piano is in a 
> fairly large church and they now are planning on getting rid of it 
> because of this problem. They don't really want to because they love 
> the touch but they use it in a recording studio and it's "driving them 
> crazy"!
>  
> Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
>  
> Avery Todd, RPT
> Houston, TX


I tune one Boston regularly that tends to do this, that takes 
me an extra 15 or 20 minutes to tune because of it. It's a 
rendering problem. Some of it seems to be at the capo/counter 
bearing, and some through the bridge. It takes me two passes 
through the top third, doing everything I can to insure 
strings are stable, only to have some (too many) move slightly 
after the first pass. I'd suggest that they have someone in 
the area that's known for leaving unusually stable tunings 
give it a shot.
Ron N



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