<HTML>Bill, I do tune aurally the vast majority of the time, but occasionally check it against my ETD.  I will always go by what my ear tells me.  Unfortunately, my ear told me that tuning this section of the piano was going to be a challenge.  My ear was right. Thanks for the input, one and all. Dave S. In a message dated 7/10/02 12:35:35 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Billbrpt@AOL.COM writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> I'm glad you found some redeeming value in the Betsy Ross spinet, many who write on here wouldn't.  Actually, I think you would do best tuning aurally.  The problem you describe with 3 strings in which the windings are not exactly the same is called a "snarl".  What is happening is 3 different amounts of inharmonicity.  Don't be frustrated by that, just accept the fact that it is impossible to tune the type of unison you are capable of on a better made and designed piano. You simply get it as close as you can without stressing out about it and move on.  Most ETD's offer a calculated program that focuses on one particular partial.  That calculation is likely to be incorrect for this kind of piano.  There may be ways of resetting the ETD to make it match the scale design but by the time you've done that, you could have had it already done and moved on by tuning aurally.  Your ear will be able to sort out these mismatches and make the best compromise the quickest.    It is not necessary or even advisable to make excuses about the way the piano sounds to the customer.  Usually, a person with this type of piano is not very discriminating.  They are used to the way it sounds.  Certainly, no other technician has been able to do anything about the problem so you can be sure that none has been able to make it sound better than you can. This goes for false beats and poorly wound strings in bigger and better pianos too.  It's better to just do the best you can and be done with it.  If a customer does pick up on the imperfection, that is the time to explain that it can't really be made to sound better.  If changing of strings or structural repair will solve these problems on a better piano, then offer that as the solution, don't say, "It's not my fault". Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>