tuning instability

[Wimblees]

In a message dated 98-05-09 09:17:49 EDT, you write:

>I'm convinced it's not a matter of time, but how many times the piano
>has been tuned.  After one of our concert grands was restrung last
>Summer I had a graduate student practice in the shop.  He practiced
>every day, and I tuned every day.  After 10 days, the piano was stable
>enough to use for recitals.
>
>dave


Dave:

Although it is important to tune a piano frequently in the first couple of
weeks, to work out the initial stretch, and to keep the tension up, it doesn't
do any good if afterwards you don't keep doing that for a certain perdiod of
time. It might be stable enough for a recital, but tuning it often in the
first couple of weeks does not make the piano stable in the long run. Why do
we encourage our new piano customers to have their piano tuned at least 4
times in the first year?  

After I rebuild piano, it gets 6 tunings in a 2 week period in the shop. When
I tune it, it is tuned 10 cents high. After the piano is delivered, I give the
customer one more free tuning about 2 weeks later. Most of the time, the pitch
will have dropped about 10 cents in that period of time.  I do a pitch raise,
and tune the piano to pitch.  I then encourage the customer to have me come
back after 2 months. If she does what she is told, the piano will be about at
pitch. I then return in 3 months, then 4 months, and then keep the piano tuned
at least twice a year for about 3 years. By this time, I consider the piano
"stable". If the customer calls me in 4 months, instead of 2 months, the pitch
will have dropped  about 25 or 30 cents. By now the piano has become
"unstable", and instead of it being stable after 3 years, it might not be
stable for 4 or 5 years. 

Willem Blees RPT
St. louis