Chipping

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Jerry:

In the factories, the stringer puts enough tension on the strings to hold
the coils tight. He feels the tension of the strings with one hand as he
pulls them up.

A simple way to do a chip tuning is to have another piano nearby. Play a 
note from it every once in a while to make sure you are still in the ballpark.
Don't be so careful on the first chipping. On the second chipping, you can
have someone else play note for note as you go. After first chipping you can
tamp the coils, check string spacing etc. Using an old plastic keytop works
fine for chipping the strings. Don't pluck the strings, snap down on the 
left string, pull up. Then snap down on the center string and pull up. then
snap down on the rt. string, etc. Some people prefer a softer shaved dowel
for chipping the Bass strings.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Sun, 5 Jul 1998, Jerry Hunt wrote:

> I'm almost done with my first restringing and would appreciate some
> input on how to do the initial pitch raise. The method described in
> Reblitz' book to properly load the soundboard calls for using an ETD (or
> some type of chromatic tuner), which I don't have. So I'm looking for an
> aural tuning shceme.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
>