<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8> <DIV><FONT size=2>I love tuning for people here in southern West = Virginia.  They're down-to-earth, and a lot more sophisticated than you might = expect.  Very much into music: churches with a dozen instruments in the sanctuary = (guitars, drums, keyboards).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>However, I've found different ways of expressing = concepts, especially since there's so much familiarity with guitars.  For = example, instead of "100 cents flat", I just say "It's a fret low".  Instead = of "a piano has between 220 and 250 strings", I say "tuning a piano is like = tuning 40 guitars".  That one even got my attention!  = Since<EM> </EM>I always make at least two passes, one tuning's the equivalent of 80 = guitars -- 120 with a pitch raise!  To describe a pitch raise, I give the = example of moving a house to a new foundation.  If one corner was way low and = you jacked it up, something else would get thrown out as a result, so you'd = have to go around once to get it close before trying to make the floors really level.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Instead of "tuning pins pressed into a laminated = pinblock", I say "they're nailed into holes drilled into butcher block", or I use the = example of violin pegs with a friction fit instead of guitar tuners with = gears.  "Delamination" is "like kitchen chairs coming unglued in = wintertime".  I often take off the bottom cabinet panel on uprights and point out the similarities to a guitar: strings terminating at the rim, running over a = bridge.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>What I like the best is still to check out a piano, = and when they ask me how bad it is, saying simply "It's a fret low".</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy Shuster--</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Bluefield, West By God Virginia</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>