<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Hi, Marshall If I remember my last encounter with a "GRAND" spinet, it was double-strung -- two strings per unison instead of three. Then you'd have to put the strip mute in between every other note, so you'd have just one string per note -- but you'd also have to keep track of which tuning pin to put your hammer onto, since they'd alternate left string - right string - left string, etc. The Papps mute does make a little clicking sound when the note is struck, but it is handy because you can pluck across the strings with it. This can show you which of the three strings is high or low, and you can also strum quickly across the strings to find out where to insert the mute. Honing your skills -- you just keep trying, every single piano, no matter how poor or false it is. Doing it well in spite of being in a hurry will pay you dividends over time. And if you find yourself in front of a really nice piano for a change, (or if you know when you are scheduling that you are going to tune a good piano) give yourself more time, and refine everything as much as you possibly can. Do several passes, try to get that creamy sound in the unisons, investigate the musical qualities of slight changes in the octave stretch, then get all the octaves to be exactly the same stretch, and so forth. Very satisfying job, piano tuning. Susan Marshall Gisondi wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:BLU167-W455F09DBF08AA376332847B92E0@phx.gbl" type="cite"> <style></style> <div dir="ltr">Hi Susan, Thanks for the info. I use a paps in the treble and fat fubber wedge in the bass, or felt wedge on grands at times.  I think the tuning right then left then having to go back and do left then right in the bass is a little time consuming.  I'm ot sure now to actually strip m ute the treble especially with the dampers so close.  I think sticking the papes mute in slows me down as well at times because I get some strange feed back from the strings on cheap pianos. I tuned a "grand" spinet last week and when I muted off the string to let only the center and left sound after tuning the left, rather than receiving the wa wa wa feedback from the out of tune middle string It was as if it just changed pitch without the vibration, very odd.  I get this on pianos where I won't hear any thing at all when tuning the middle to the left string.  On some grand pianos I have to push down the unichorda?hope I spelled this correctly Joe, lol pedal to hear the right string.  Now is this due to hammer spacing ,or string spacing or is the pedal out of adjustment. So theres  factors often slow me down.    I agree with Dave too on these pianos we come across are mostly from the average person who wouldn't know what a concert tuning was if it bit them lol  So that's where I run into trouble. How am I to hone these skills if I'm just doing average pianos and have such a limitted amount of time to do them?  Marshall Marshall Gisondi MARSHALL'S PIANO SERVICE 215-510-9400 <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.phillytuner.com" target="_blank">http://www.phillytuner.com</a> </div> </blockquote> </body> </html>