<html> At 01:05 PM 7/30/2005 -0400, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I ju= st booked a first-time tuning for a Bluthner grand (first time for me to tune it). It is said to be about 55 years old. Is this piano likely to have the 4th string aliquot system up in the high treble? If so, is there any special tuning techniques for it? I've never tuned one of these. Just pluck it and tune it beatless with the other three strings of each note?   Terry Farrell</blockquote> Hi, Terry. Not sure how much of the piano would have the fourth string, but probably a lot of the treble. I've only tuned newer ones, which don't start the fourth string till the high treble. After a pretty short time, tuning the fourth string feels natural enough. It takes two wedges. Keep the fourth string muted, and tune the other three to as clear a unison as you can, like usual. I found that the three-string unisons on Blüthners are very, very clear, almost colorless-clear. Then, remove the last mute, and you'll probably hear the unison get angry, more in timbre than in beats. I tune the fourth string without plucking it, but barely moving the wire, and try to calm the unison again. It usually will get better, but with a more complex tone than the three main strings alone. Then I pluck the fourth string to be sure it isn't some screwy place, like on a different note. If I can't get the unison to clear after I've added in the fourth string, I'll pluck the fourth string to find out which way to move it, and then tinker a little when it's very close to the other three, tuning for tone quality. I found that once you get the section settled down, and the unisons tuned for timbre like this, that the fourth string actually seems to add some tuning stability. Have fun -- it's kind of a neat system, really. I don't think that the fourth string is for volume. I think that the more complex, less crystalline sound sustains better.  Susan Kline </html>