<HTML>In a message dated 9/18/01 11:56:11 AM Central Daylight Time, tompiano@gate.net (Tom Servinsky) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Terry, According to Bob Beck, one of the few welders of broken plates in the USA, raising pitch beyond the designated A435 could pose problems....broken plates. However, as we all know many pianos have been brought up to standard pitch and do well with the additional tension</BLOCKQUOTE>. (snip) Terry's question is a good one and Tom's answer was good and interesting too.  This used to be one of the questions on the PTG Written Exam.  As I remember, it was worded as a True/False question, something like, "A piano designed to be tuned at A-435 cannot (or should not) be tuned (or raised) to A-440."  The correct answer was False. I can see why they took that question out.  Not everyone agrees on this issue.  Consider this, however:  The difference between 435 and 440 is 20 cents.  In my climate, the pitch of many pianos, particularly those in public places where people depend on the piano as the foundation for music making such as churches and schools, the pitch typically goes as much as 30 cents high in Summer and 30 cents flat in Winter (a range of 60 cents). While I never tune any pianos at +30 cents, I sometimes reluctantly leave the pitch at +20 cents (at a maximum) because I am aware of the futility of trying to maintain 440.  None of the plates ever break and strings don't pop when the pitch goes high. There is a Chickering Grand in my clientele which is tuned twice a year but has no humidity control.  In Winter, I tune it at -20 cents but in Summer, it's pitch climbs to about 440, maybe even a little higher.  I've taken care of it for about 15 years.  It's behavior is fairly predictable.  There has never been any evidence of plate failure. Of course, you can't rely on anecdotal evidence or accounts.  My advice would be to *not* insist on 440, even if the user is a student.  If there is some kind of complaint because of incompatibility with other instruments or claims of having "perfect pitch" or whatever, the best solution would be rescaling or replacement with another piano designed for 440. I doubt that in your climate the pitch is as volatile as it is here, so that would not be an issue or factor.  I can tell you however that here, when the schools start in late August and they want the piano tuned at that time, if I lowered the pitch to 440, it would be at -10 cents by October, -20 cents by December and -30 cents by January. This is no exaggeration.  I have no qualms about tuning certain crummy old pianos at -20 cents in the dead of Winter.  They'll easily approach 440 by Summer. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>