[CAUT] Bechstein model B tuning stability

[Jeannie Grassi]

Hi Fred, and anyone else,

Can you take your description of downward and upward motion a step further?
I've been hearing conflicting descriptions of this recently in private
communications.  What I'm asking is specifically..when the pitch needs to go
up, do you lift up on the end of the tuning lever at the same time there is
a slight rotation to sharpen?  And conversely, does one push down and rotate
slightly flat?  I've had the opposite described and just want to get a sense
of how most people interpret this deliberate flag-poling motion.  I've
always used it the way I've described.  Have I been climbing up the wrong
flagpole all these years????  :>)

jeannie

 

  _____  

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Sturm
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2009 11:20 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Bechstein model B tuning stability

 

On Oct 17, 2009, at 10:27 AM, David Love wrote:





A very conscious rotary motion with even a slight forward press (sounds like
a golf swing) and a closer to 12:00 hammer position. 

 

            I'll second this notion, very much including the "forward
press." If the twist of the pin is enough to pull the string through and
past friction before the pin turns in the block, a downward pressure on the
hammer is an excellent technique. The idea is to balance things so that the
turn of the pin in the block, and the movement of the string past friction
points, are coordinated, they happen perfectly in sync. So use a 12 o'clock
position of hammer, and apply pressure downward or upward on the end of the
hammer lever (essentially "flagpoling" the pin forward or backward), so that
when you feel the pin begin to move in the block, the pitch just begins to
move. This will vary depending on tightness of the pin and amount of
friction on the bearing points, so you have to calibrate what you do to the
piano, and to the individual pin.

            It's not always possible to do this perfectly, but you can
usually get quite close, and this technique makes things far  less confusing
- you know where you are at all times. Another factor is a good stiff
hammer. I got a Fujan recently, and it is amazingly better than anything
else I've tried. The feel of the pin is much clearer, and calibration of how
much to push or pull (or "impact" - nudge) is much more precise, since there
isn't any significant "spring" stored in the hammer lever itself. All
muscular effort is directed at the pin.

Regards,

Fred Sturm

University of New Mexico

fssturm at unm.edu

 

 

 

 

 

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