<HTML>In a message dated 1/22/01 12:58:44 PM Central Standard Time, cneuman@phy.duke.edu (Charles Neuman) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">The high treble seems to eat up a lot of time. The unisons are harder for me there since the beats are more sensitive to hammer movement. By the time I get to the last octave, I'm ready to scream, and the notes start to sound like a metal spoon hitting a frypan. Perhaps a nice grand would have nicer sounding notes up there. It seems like a drag to spend so much time on notes that will rarely be played.</BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, the high treble is usually the most difficult and tedious part of the piano to tune.  That is one of the reasons I recommend tuning the Bass last.   As with any task in servicing the piano, I try to do the most difficult part first so that the end of the job comes more easily.  If you tune the bass last, you will find that you "cool down" from the intensity of tuning the high treble much easier, ending the job in a more relaxed state rather than being all keyed up. Now, you will probably get some people who will say that if you tune the bass last, you will make the treble go flat or something like that.  Don't buy it, it is not so.  If the piano is out of tune enough that it needs two or more passes or the bass is somehow so flat that tuning it would cause the plate to flex then it means that a rough or pitch raise tuning should have been done in the first place.  The very best tuners I know all tune the bass last, not before the treble and high treble. The torture that the high treble puts your ears through is the reason ear plugs or other hearing protection are recommended.  If the piano is so loud that it causes your ears discomfort, you will be able to hear what you need to hear even with hearing protection in place.  Try it, you'll be glad you did. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>