Hazard of Accutuner ( Have I ruined my new bass strings ?)

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Russell:

I don't believe you have damaged the Bass strings. In the factory the whole
piano is tuned a half step high on the first chip tuning and the hi 
treble is tuned an additional half step high.

What happened to you with the SAT is one reason I always tune the Bass 
downward after tuning the treble. It is less likely that you will be tuning
by the 5th or 7th partials if you have a treble reference. It is more 
common to tune by the 7th partial when starting in the Bass because that is
the first clear partial which you come to in pulling the pitch up to 
where it registers on the SAT. Especially is it difficult to hear the pitch
of the A0 on a small piano.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Thu, 12 Nov 1998 Hrschm@AOL.COM wrote:

>         Recently I replaced the bass strings on a small grand . I used my
> accutuner to tune them starting on the lowest bass note. The accutuner showed
> the note to be in tune and I continued up thru the rest of the bass using both
> the machine and my ear to guide me thru this rough tuning. When I got to the
> end of the wound strings I played a few chords and found I had tuned all the
> wound strings two half steps sharp!  The accutuner must have caught onto a
> higher partial that stoped the lights and I continued this error all the way
> up.  My concern is that by overpulling the strings to this degree I have
> damaged them . I have been told that one should avoid too much overpull on the
> bass strings because it can loosen the windings. If a small degree of overpull
> done in connection with a pitch raise can be harmful , what would a full step
> overpull do . The strings sound O.K. now but could there be damage that may
> show up later?   Thanks for any ideas anyone may have.   
>                               Russell Schmidt   R.P.T.    Lexington, KY.
>