Use of SAt on spinet

[Jim]

To Dave and all on the list:

Yes, it is possible to put a good tuning on a spinet piano.  Have you
ever tuned a Yamaha spinet?  When I worked for the Baldwin Piano Co.
I had occasion to tune Acrosonics both in the factory and in service
calls.  You can set a beautiful temperament on this piano or on a Wurl.
spinet.  It was during those days that I developed the Coleman A to A
temperament.  This avoids the scale break area completely and a fine
temperament can be set.  It is necessary to stretch the A octave a
little more than usual and especially the G#3 and G3 because of the
foreshortening of the strings.  The wound strings beginning at F#3 and
on down have much lower inharmonicity and must be sharpened a little
to make the M3rds slow down across the break.  Aural tuners kinda do
this automatically.  This of course makes the m3rds on the same note a
little faster.  Most people will opt for this.

Just a little side note here.  One time I went to my boss and showed
him how we could change the scaling in that area to smooth out the in-
harmonicity break and make tuners even happier with our pianos.  His
answer to me was "Jim, at this time that piano commands 40% of the sales
market, We are not about to change anything about it."  Nice try anyway.

A number of years ago, I wrote a short piece about how to smooth across
the break on pianos which have wound strings in the temperament area
or nearby.  I believe this is available from Inventronics, the makers
of the AccuTuner.  I believe it was also printed in the Journal a few
years ago.  I do not have an index to the Journal, but I'm sure
someone on the list does and would be glad to look it up for us.  The
basic principle involves the making of 2 tunings in memory for AccuTuner
users so that one is used for tuning the wound strings and the other is
used for tuning the plain strings.  The write-up explains all of that,
or just send me a self addressed stamped envelope and I'll send you one
free.  My address is 4 W. Del Rio Dr., Tempe, AZ  USA

Acrosonic pianos have been very popular in pianobar situations for many
years, so you know it is possible to make them sound nice.

Jim Coleman, Sr. (AZ)


PS Yes, and there are spinets which sound better while they are burning.
Please take the precaution to take them outside first. (8=(  or  (8-)


On Mon, 29 Jul 1996 FirTree@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 96-07-29 11:11:25 EDT, you write:
>
> << Has anyone had good success with the wild spinets using ANY method??
>
>  Barb Barasa
>   >>
>
> I had a successful experience with an elementary school spinet involving fire
> sprinklers and an auctioneer.
>
> Dave Stocker, RPT
> firtree@aol.com
>