[pianotech] 6 strings versus 200 + strings

Noah Frere noahfrere at gmail.com
Mon Jan 31 11:49:31 MST 2011


The first tie i tuned my six-string after becoming a piano tuner, it took me
45 minutes and i was unhappy with the result. It used to take me about 2
minutes...

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:36 AM, Mr. Mac's <tune-repair at allegiance.tv>wrote:

> List,
>
> Something happened many years ago (late 1900s') that startled me.
>
> During a seminar a colleague and I took a break,
>   whereupon he shared with me his Martin guitar
>   in his hotel room.
>
> Customarily, when someone pulls a guitar out of a case
>   and hands it to me, my first instinct is to check the tuning.
> So, I did that, and decided some changes needed to be made.
>
> Pause:
> As an aside, the few Martin guitars I have experienced have had
>   high actions (strings very far up from the fretboard), hence
>   making it extremely difficult to satisfy any efforts on my part
>   to produce a harmonious tuning to my ears.
>
> Unpause:
> So, after fooling around, I did the best I could do, played a few chords,
>   decided the high action was killing my fingers, and
>   handed that guitar back to the owner and acknowledged
>   the best compliment I could muster to the owner.
>
> Want to guess what the first thing that happened after that?
> He retuned what I had just tuned. Holy Mackerel!
>
> Here two so-called RPTs' had completely different ideas
>  as to what sounded correct with this 6-string Martin guitar.
>
> Imagine, if you will, what is going on
>   when discussion takes place regarding a piano tuning,
>   the methodology used and each individual's perceptions.
>
> Excuse me, but Holy Mackerel, again!
>
> These are some early Monday morning thoughts following
>   last week's intensive discussions.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Keith McGavern, RPT
> pianostuff.kamcam.com
>
>
>
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