Cross-country piano move

[Keith A. McGavern]

>I have moved hundreds of new and used pianos over the years. I just have
>not found that moving causes the piano to go out of tune. The exception
>would be occasionally when the new location is not level. Then the bass
>might go out-of-tune with the mid and treble section. Even that has
>happened only a few times. "Settling after the stress of the move"--I
>respectfully have problem with that theory.
>
>Sy Zabrocki

Dear Sy, List,

I used to think along the lines you mention as well.  However, that changed
some time back.

While it is true that some pianos seem little affected when moved, I know
of two specific instances where I moved one console less than a foot and
another console across the room after a tuning.  This distorted the tuning
recognizably beyond belief.  Since that time I have adhered to the
possibility that there are some pianos that are affected by a move and
can't take it, regardless of distance, and do need time to settle, adjust,
acclimate, or whatever word works best here.

And unless one knows which pianos are the stable ones and which are not, I
have chosen to adhere to a waiting period of some degree, however smalland
when the circumstances permit, if only 1) to protect my interest in
professional advice given to a customer, and 2) to not have to do the job
over again.

Keith A. McGavern, RPT
kam544@ionet.net
Oklahoma Chapter 731
Oklahoma Baptist University
Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA