pitch lowering

[J Patrick Draine]

>List,
>
>Pitch lowering is something we don't specialize in, here in the northeast,
>but I am running into a whole bunch of pianos that require it.
>
>While I wouldn't balk at leaving a piano 10 cents high in the middle of the
>summer,  I'm finding some of them that much sharp and more,  already.  No
>doubt the mild winters and damp spring weather are responsible for this.
>
>Anyway,  after wasting my time on bad passes (like,  kidding myself that I
>was going to get a piano down to A=440 without a formal pitch-lowering) I
>finally decided to go at it just the reverse of the way I would do a
>pitch-raise, so in this case I  divided the amount sharp of middle C by a
>factor of three,  and did a pass at zero minus that number of cents.
>
>Guess what -  it works!  Of course, you knew this all along, right? 'Course,
>our colleagues in the bayous and 'glades probably do this every day.
>
>I still use a Peterson strobetuner, but I'd be interested in hearing other
>people's comments on what they're finding in the field these days, and how
>the various SATs and Cybers are used to solve the problem.
>
>
>Rob Stuart-Vail

Rob:
As you know, I am an SAT II devotee. I use the SAT's "pitch raise" program,
which lowers pitch just as well.
It uses a 25% offset ( i.e. if the low plain wire string on the Wurlitzer
console is 24c sharp of what the SAT normally calculates, it lowers it 6c
below that value). This procedure is most accurate if notes are tuned one
at a time, that is, one string is set to the SAT and the other two are
pulled in by ear. You then proceed to the adjacent note. Recalculate the
offset every fifth or octave, depending on how much pitch deviation you're
noticing. Any notes more than 4c off will benefit by this procedure.
Then do a fine tuning (the more closely you follow this procedure, the less
work is necessary in the fine tuning).
Of course, we should also be selling them full Dampp Chaser systems. Charge
a decent markup and your labor, and we won't be so upset that the customer
doesn't call us as often. The "new improved" version is quite good, and
their promo materials are (finally) quite persuasive.
Patrick Draine