Different Pitch Raising Sequence

[Kevin E. Ramsey RPT]

    Well, I do something similar in a situation like this. When I have one
where I think I'm going to run into trouble. I tune it just like I would
aurally. I strip it off and tune single strings just to pitch. (OK, maybe 10
cents sharp.) then I tune all the left strings, then all the right strings,
then the bass with the strip in. At that point, I can go for my regular
pitch raise sequence without pulling the strings up an un-Godly amount.
Seems best for the piano, and minimizes breakage.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 7:02 PM
Subject: Different Pitch Raising Sequence


> 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
>