[pianotech] Tuning stability problem

[Ron Overs]

Lim wrote;

>. . . The piano is about 6 yrs old and according to the hall people 
>it gets about 12 tunings a year and the pitch is tuned between 440 
>and 442 depending on the user.

The 440 to 442 variation in tuning would be a likely causal factor of 
the instability you are experiencing. While many institutions here in 
Sydney are into the new management style which is, basically, 'soak 
up all the hype and spin from the company salespeople 
hook-line-and-sinker while ignoring the advice of the piano 
technician', you might be lucky in your situation. If I have to move 
a piano two cycles for a gig, I will warn the users that the piano 
might be unstable, despite the fact that I will rub it down and pitch 
raise if the pitch movement is up. It will still have to be pitch 
lowered if the movement is down, but you won't need to lower the back 
scale tension, since it will still have stability if the tension is 
only slightly higher. It may be worth suggesting that they decide on 
a standard pitch for their piano, and if some user comes in who 
request such big pitch shifts as 2 cycles, tell them to arrange their 
own hire piano for the gig and that you'll gladly set it to the pitch 
of their choice. I don't believe it would be possible to achieve good 
stability in any piano if you are hauling the thing all over the 
place, up to two cycles between tunings.

At six years of age, it might be getting to the stage where the 
strings aren't rendering as well as they might once have, which will 
also affect your ability to make it stay in tune. It might benefit 
from a re-string if it is a high use instrument. How's that 
soundboard travelling? Is it starting to get louder and shorter in 
the second top treble section? Quite a number of modern performance 
pianos will have arrived at death's door after six years.

Ron O.
-- 
OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY
    Grand Piano Manufacturers
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Web http://overspianos.com.au
mailto:ron at overspianos.com.au
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