[CAUT] Advice for achieving stability sooner?

[David Love]

Sorry, hit the send button by accident before finishing.  

Best for achieving stability is to be sure that your pitch raises are sharp
enough that the piano is at pitch before you attempt to fine tune and expect
that the piano will take some time to achieve stability depending on the
number and style of tunings done in the factory, something you can't know.
On newly strung pianos that I do the first tunings are some 30 cents sharp,
as I allow (or encourage) bends to straighten out and such.  The second
tunings are maybe 20 cents sharp and I continue to ease them down with
progressive passes until I get down to 440.  This is done over a weeklong
(or more) period and by the end that the piano has gained much greater
stability.  Otherwise you are forever (or at least for too long) continuing
to chase the pitch back up.  In your situation that's probably too much work
and since you don't know the number of tunings prior I would not go back to
putting the piano that sharp.  Still, a rough pass with adequate overpull is
necessary to achieve any kind of stability with the second fine tuning.  You
shouldn't need any more than two passes if the overpull is done correctly to
begin with.  If you are using an ETD that first pass can be done in 15 - 20
minutes.  Get it reasonably close but don't worry about setting pins or
being too refined with unisons.    

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com


-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David
Love
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 7:59 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Advice for achieving stability sooner?

Don't tap pins on bridges.  It won't help with tuning stability.  More
likely it will just damage the bridge cap.  Instability with respect to
strings has more to do with the coil, loops and whether the bends around the
bridge pins and other termination areas have become acute rather than
curved.  String lifting and leveling at the terminations, massaging the bend
at the bridge pins, or gently squeezing the bass string loops (if they're
wide) will help speed stability.  Tapping bridge pins is useless and
damaging, though a lot of people continue to do it.  

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Diane
Hofstetter
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 11:52 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: [CAUT] Advice for achieving stability sooner?


I just got a contract tuning 9 almost new Kawai UST-9 studio pianos at a
local community college.  The pianos were purchased last year about this
time and delivered directly to the college, through a snow storm, which we
rarely have in this part of the world.  Then they were unboxed in the new
music building, DC heating rods with HD humidistats installed, pitch raised
and tuned (all the same day).
 
Now a year of no service at all has gone by, and I have to get them sounding
decent.  I started one today.  It was about 30-40cents flat.  After a pitch
raise and tuning, I now think it is ready for a tuning!
 
I'm considering doing less careful pitch raises, but doing two of them
before I try to tune.  Have also wondered about tapping strings on bridges.
 
If anyone can give me advice for making the job less back-breaking and
higher quality, I will be very grateful!

Diane Hofstetter 		 	   		  =