On the premise that there are two primary modes of turning the pins; one being continuous pulling/pushing; and, bumping/nudging the hammer, do any of you have experience in comparison of these modes applied to the 1098? I have gotten conflicting results, depending on the individual piano involved. Some respond well to the bumping modes; while others demand an arduous workout, elbow on back, HEAVE.....HEAVE........HEAVE............UMMMMMMPH. Robin Blankenship Samurai Tuner-dude ----- Original Message ----- From: Newton Hunt <nhunt@jagat.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 4:05 PM Subject: Re: May Their Practice rooms be filled with 1098's > Ron is right on. > > These pianos do render too well. If you keep your hammer as > close to 10:00 as you can keep it the better you can control > the flag poling because the pull of the hammer is counter > balanced by the pull of the string. The problem is that Ron > is too short to reach the hammer at that position. > > One hammer that does work, and exceptionally well, is an > impact hammer. It turns the pin instead of flexing it and > they are so easy to tune that way that you wonder why you > didn't do this a long time ago. Not perfect but what a > difference. You do need to hold the hammer so as to take > the weight of the hammer off the pin. > > They are spiteful pianos to tune and so is Steinway for not > making changes to accomodate those who service the damned > things. Just my opinion mind you but if I am the one to > tune it I will not recommend a piano that tortures me. They > make them to accommodate THEIR values which means butkus > after they leave the factory. > > Newton > > Ron Nossaman wrote: > > > > > OK, in my experience, as you're trying to bring a string up to pitch, it > > >doesn't seem to want to go, in spite of the obvious movement of the pin in > > >the block. Then,,,,,zoom! the string finally renders,,,,,,,right past where > > >you wished it would go. I have often wondered if the pressure bar isn't too > > >low or something. Anybody care to give their imput? Believe me, I'd like > > >nothing more than to be able to easily tune these things, but after tuning > > >three or four in practice rooms, I'm done for the day. As opposed to being > > >able to tune twice as many Yamaha's or Kawai's. > > > > I haven't had any to deal with on a regular basis until recently, so I'm > > anything but an authoritative opinion, but it seems to me it's the other > > way. The strings seem to me to render too easily, at least on the new ones. > > Hammer position and technique do make a tremendous difference for me. I > > found that pulling from anything past about 1:00 o'clock on those terribly > > tight pins sprung the pin down enough that, even though I was taking up > > string, the pitch stayed nearly the same or even dropped some. Then, when I > > let up on the hammer, the pin sprung back up and pulled the string sharp. > > Pushing BACK on the hammer somewhat as I turned the pin helped too, with > > the hammer at 12:00. The toughest part for me is finding the equilibrium > > point where the string tension balances the back torque and flagpole pull > > of the pin so the note will stay where I put it. Just pulling the tip off > > of the pin is too often enough to disturb the tuning. I have the best luck > > at the 11-12 o'clock position, intentionally flagpoling the pin back and > > forth after turning it to position, to determine where the equilibrium > > point is, then rotating the pin to center it. I do something very similar > > with any other tuning, as I expect you all do, but I have to pay more > > attention and spend more time with these. They do sound pretty good when > > you finally get them tuned, but it does seem like unnecessary abuse to get > > that done. > > > > My take, > > > > Ron N >
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