---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment In a message dated 12/22/00 7:56:17 AM Central Standard Time,=20 tito@PhilBondi.com (Phil Bondi) writes: > (showing my forever rookiness)..is there a technique for setting snappy > tuning pins so when/if they want to move, they move less than they are now= ? > when they go, they really go. >=20 > I THINK I know how to set a tuning pin..this situation in this environment > is getting the best of me. >=20 > hopefully, the suggestions here will help me. >=20 Phil, I can hardly believe what you are calling "frigid". It's below Zero here=20 but it's been colder and I know our Canadian friends would call what you are= =20 experience a "heat wave". Your question is timely. I have an off line question from one of our=20 European contributors that ties into it. I have been thinking about how to=20 answer him for quite a while but didn't know exactly where to begin. Here i= s=20 the question: "I use alot of impact technic that=A0I seen Jim Coleman do on a video. I=A0think it's Ok to pull up the string with a impact way and then "push the= =20 pin and hit the key" it down if it didn't sit where I wanted the first time.= =20 This works well on most pianos but I have trouble with a few brands. [My teacher] wants me to learn to tune the usually way and I suppose he's=20 right about that.=20 The problem is I find it difficult to control the pin by pushing it up" I'm sure there are and will be differing opinions about this but I have had=20 these same experiences too. For the first 10 years I tuned, I used a slow=20 pull type technique. Then, I attended my first convention in Minneapolis in= =20 1979. There, I saw the late George Defebaugh RPT and Jim Coleman RPT's=20 lecture on tuning. Although I have never see the video spoken of, I assume=20 it teaches essentially the same techniques I saw back then. I went home from that Convention and put into practice the things I learned=20 and by doing so, reduced the time it took me to tune by a very significant=20 amount and increased my skill level from far below RPT standards to high=20 enough to Qualify as an Examiner Trainee in just two years. The two most=20 important elements were the Pitch Raising Technique and the Hammer Technique= . Even today, I can try to tell other technicians what I learned then, as=20 George put it, "You can tune a piano twice, much faster and easier than you=20 can fight with it once" but I still see many who struggle, grunt and groan=20 their way through a two hour or more tuning that ends up quite inaccurate an= d=20 unstable. When the customer is told after that ordeal, "I'll have to do it=20 over again in two weeks", the decision is usually made to try someone else=20 next time. George emphasized that an impact type technique is the "most mechanically=20 correct way to [operate the tuning hammer and] move the string", according t= o=20 him. I have seen many people claim with the strongest conviction that the=20 tuning hammer should be at 10 o'clock (on verticals) or "in line with the=20 strings", but both Jim and George proved that not to be true over 20 years=20 ago. The answer to your tight and jumpy pins problem is to move them with quick,=20 jarring motions. Yes, it will take practice. You may not be able to make=20 the more subtle impact movements right away but with practice, you'll get a=20 feel for it. On the other hand, a slow pull technique only tends to bend and flex the pin= =20 causing inevitable but unnecessary instability. Next time you get to tune a= =20 Steinway vertical and you have learned this technique, see if it does not go= =20 much easier. I serviced one of those Steinway consoles from the 1950's just= =20 yesterday and thought about that. It is a well designed, solid as a rock=20 instrument with beautiful tone and only marginally more difficult for me to=20 tune than other pianos. It's not anywhere near enough to complain about. I= t=20 was difficult however to remove and replace the action for flange tightening= . When using an impact type technique on a vertical with no plate bushings and= =20 with the Tuning Hammer at 2 o'clock, any bending or twisting of the pin is=20 minimized and in the downward direction. The string (when raising the pitch= )=20 is jacked up through the bearing points. It takes very little over pull. I= t=20 settles right down where it belongs and stays. All modern Baldwin Grands are known for their tight and cracking tuning pins= .=20 An impact type technique is the best way to control them and achieve the=20 most stable results with ease and in the least amount of time. The only tim= e=20 I use a slow pull technique is on pianos with marginally loose or nearly=20 uncontrollable, low torque pins. This kind of technique seems more like the= =20 way you would tune a harpsichord to me. Generally, it is not the best way t= o=20 try to tune a piano. Good luck, =A0 Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/df/e1/08/7e/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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