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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Piannaman@aol.com
href="mailto:Piannaman@aol.com">Piannaman@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, March 22, 2003 =
12:34
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> wrestling an =
alligator</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>List, <BR><BR>Well, =
it wasn't
really an alligator, but when I was done with the Baldwin M(5' 8" =
grand),
circa 1965, I felt as if I'd been in a river with a large reptile. =
ON
the surface, it seemed like a nice piano, except the lady told me it =
hadn't
been tuned in probably 20 years. The husband later informed me =
that a
"cowboy from Oklahoma" was the last guy that tuned it. Probably =
told her
that it would never tuning again. <BR><BR>Anyway, after a pitch =
raise(only 10%
+/- flat in the middle, slightly more at the ends), I grappled with =
trying to
get a decent tuning in it. These pianos have no tuning pin =
bushings, and
I guess that's what makes them want to spring right back to where you =
started
from. This particular instrument had pins that popped just as =
they were
about to fall into place, and voila--10% flat or sharp again! =
And it was
whiny as a newborn baby. Almost as whiny as me right now. =
<BR><BR>I can
normally do a pitch raise and fine tuning in 1 1/2 hours or =
slightly
less if the piano wasn't way off to start with. I was battling =
this
monster for 2 1/2 hours. The lady kvetched a bit when I told her =
I was
going to charge her for a pitch raise. Of all da noive!
<BR><BR>Question: would regular tuning over the previous two =
decades
have smoothed out the tuning pin rotation at all? =
<BR><BR>Amazingly,
the piano sounded pretty good when I was done. I hate to admit =
this, but
after that ordeal, I was happy to get to my next customer's Pearl =
River.
<BR><BR>Dave Stahl</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> I think the cowboy and the tuning pin bushings =
are the
smallest factors and the largest ones are being a Baldwin (tight =
tuning pins)
and the 20 years of not being tuned. Yes, it would probably be =
easier to
tune if it had received regular tunings over the years, =
especially for
the first few years of its life. Baldwins still tend to be a bit =
of a
struggle, but the bushings have very little to do with setting the pin =
and the
string. Steinways and probably some other brands don't have =
them,
either, but its wanting to spring back is due more to never having =
been
stabilized at pitch. --David Nereson, RPT,
Denver </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>