Pounding tuning pins.

[Brian Trout]

Hi Doug,

You've received some excellent comments so far, and I wouldn't want to
detract from them at all.

There is one other thing to consider.  Environment.

I have a nice Kawai piano in a church that I look after quite regularly.
They had a problem, particularly in unsettled seasonal type times getting
this thing to maintain a stable tuning.  I'd go in and tune, just like
always, as carefully as I could, and it might only be a week or two and they
would start to notice it was starting to drift already.  I started to get a
little frustrated with it, thinking I was doing something wrong.  So, I
finally mentioned whether they might consider installing a complete Dampp
Chaser system in the piano, that perhaps that would improve the tuning
stability.  Well, a couple of days later the treasurer said "order it, and
when it comes, put it in."  I did.  It's like a completely different
instrument.  The very same tunings I once did that didn't seem to hold, are
now tunings that last and last.  I was there again this Friday after about 4
or 5 weeks, just to check up on it.  I got out my tuning hammer and a rubber
mute, and I did find a dozen or so unisons that I tweaked ever so slightly.
And I don't think anyone would have even noticed if I hadn't done that.  The
thing has been holding like a rock.  (And it gets pounded on pretty heavily
at times, too.)

It can be the tuner.  It can be the piano.  It can also be an unstable
environment that'll do nasty things to a fresh tuning.

Just more food for thought.  (Gee, it sounds like I'm trying to sell
something...)   :-)  Just my $0.02

Hope you're having a nice weekend.

Take care,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net