Pitch Anticipation

[Jon Page]

All this talk of pitch correction.  Nialling it to A440.

How about pitch anticipation. Back when I had a daily tuning route,
I would always leave the piano a few beats sharp or flat.

For regular customers I would tune slightly flat In May or June allowing
for the sounding board to rise in the summer months. Having just come
off the Winter dryness, this avoids dramatic pitch corrections.

Likewise, come October; I would tune slightly sharp in anticipation of the
board 'falling' with decreased humidity.

For pianos which I had tuned monthly, I was able to follow their range
thereby avoiding extra work/expense/pin wrenching. 

Even now with the school I service I will tune them (hang on to your hats)
as much as six beats sharp (September).

Why, you ask. Numerous reasons.

First is that they will drop to pitch by the next time I am called to tune
them
(December vacation). Remember that heating problem last January - 
water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.

Second, The school saves money on pitch raises.

Third, the pins are not wrenched around so much that they will get looser.
You know how dry it gets in schools.

One grand has a crack in the sounding board which you can drop a quarter
thru in February. In the Summer it is closed tight, bearly visible.

Humidity control is on their list well after piano maintenence. There are
actions
which need all the free work I want to put into them and then some. 

Unfortunately meeting salaries, utilities and property costs comes before
piano upkeep which is fix as fix can.

So with that in mind . . . I'm sure there are some techs who catagorically
replace parts. They may not be suitable for their customers but still have 
some life to them. These wippens and hammers/s/f's could be put to great
use by many low budget institutions around the country.

I don't think a clearing-house would be needed by a network of haves and 
have-nots. Recycling S&S parts. No vertigris please.

I have two sets of B h/s/f but the shank length does not match the one B
in this school. Resetting the hammers counteracts any thrifty premise.
Anyway I would prefer to get new ones for this piano. But the D needs 
them before that one does. Then there's the O, and the M . . . and that L
and the A .  .  .  all these S&S pianos, you'd think when they were they
donated the donor would have also included a maintenence trust fund.  
Philanthropy to perpetuity.  ( just think ).

I'm ready to place an order . . . donations gratefully accepted or we can get
some kind of wholesale/used market pricing going.  Auto parts guys do it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for cheap repalcement parts for the
average piano owner although it could be an area to persue. I am asking
for the school which has, evidently; not enough money to maintain pianos.
I have submitted yearly proposals for repairs and only one 'rebuilding' (same
board) has come out of it; I feel it is time to propose cost effective
measures.

With that said, I will wait for responses and then endeavor to clarify that
which I was unable to convey clearly herewith.

Jon Page
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
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Thanks go to Michael Wathen for placing the keypress on the Wapin site
http://www.wapin.com/clips/page.htm
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