Different Pitch Raising Sequence

[Farrell]

When raising pitch on any piano in the past I have used my SAT in the manner
described in the SAT manual - A0 to C88 (I always do unisons as I go). When
raising pitch on an old piano where string breakage is a real concern, I
have been additionally concerned because the hi treble is usually the region
of greatest string breakage potential. Especially because when going A0 to
C88 - lets say on a piano that was originally 100 cents flat - by the time
you get to C88, it is now 130 cents (or so) flat - thus increasing the need
for overpull and risk of breaking.

Today I raised pitch on a 1914 Lester upright. It started out at 100 cents
flat. There were several broken strings in the top half-octave. Clearly,
there was some question whether the piano was going to take A440 with all
strings intact. I hate the thought of starting in the bass (no overpull of
course - just to pitch), going through the whole piano, just to find out
that strings start breaking at G6.

So what I did was start at C88 (figuring if they break here, I can stop
right away!), just pulling up to target pitch - no overpull (in this case I
just used a generic tuning - a 52" Baldwin tuning). I went through the
treble (C88 to G5) backwards like this, then did the bass (second most
likely area for strings to break). No broken strings. I assumed at that
point the piano would do fine at A440. I completed the tenor to pitch, did
one more pass on the treble (G5 & up) with just a 4 cent positive pitch
reset (did my FAC at this point and looked at a few Double Octave Beats),
then went through the whole piano from A0 to C88 using the SAT in
pitch-raise mode with appropriate overpulls.

Using this sequence, I feel that I found out whether the piano would go to
A440 very early in the process. A minimal amount of pitch change occurred in
the hi treble (thus minimizing string break potential). The hi treble was
not ever lowered artificially in pitch prior to raising, and minimum
overpull was used (the last pass with overpull saw the hi-treble start out
around 5 to 10 cents flat). No part of the piano was more than about 15
cents flat (tenor area) when overpull was used. A total of 2-1/3 passes
resulted in the piano with a cent or two (well, maybe three or four on a few
notes!) of desired pitch. One more pass for a good tuning.

Seems to me this is a good way to approach the piano with an elevated
potential for popping strings during a pitch raise. Any thoughts? Are there
any procedures that others have found to be valuable?

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com