Steinway console tuning

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 5/9/00 6:43:18 PM Central Daylight Time, a person who 
shouldn't be in the business of tuning and repairing pianos writes:

<< It is my opinion that these PSO's are a WOP (waste of parts). >>

Never mind what these Acronyms are supposed to stand for, to the kind of 
person who typically and habitually uses them, they mean that any piano at 
all which presents a little difficulty, a little challenge, is not worthy of 
servicing.  This kind of person wants you to believe that he/she is the best 
technician around and that you should aspire to be like him or her.  This 
person wants you to believe that he/she could only be bothered with working 
on the very finest grands, "rebuilding" them and such.

The truth is that such a person has to tune the kind of piano which presents 
the difficulty in this topic just as all the rest of us do and is just as 
frustrated by it as the novice technician who posts the question.  
Undoubtedly, the customer who expressed concern that the tuning was taking 
upwards of 2 hours had seen her piano tuned many times before with what 
seemed to be an expert who was at ease with his/her work and who only took 
about an hour.

The key to getting past what seems to be a problem is to understand it for 
what it is.  Those who have mentioned "flagpoling" have identified the 
greatest if not really the only problem, in my opinion.  I am not convinced 
about any counter bearing problem.  If you look at that stringing job, you 
will probably see that the coils are alarmingly high above the plate and also 
that there are no plate bushings.  Tight pins were also cited.

All of these conspire to present the technician with a condition which 
probably won't be found on too many other vertical pianos.  If the tuning 
pins of a similar piano are at all loose, drive them in for a much improved 
feel.  In the case at hand, the technician may have already lost that 
customer, so it may be a moot point.  But if called again, the piano should 
be approached with the idea that it *can* be done, there are plenty of good 
piano technicians who would not find it overly difficult.

Richard has the right idea and the position of the tuning hammer idea is also 
on track.  It is a matter of hammer technique.  The tuning pin must not be 
*turned*.  In some pianos, you can really tune them as if you were turning a 
key (as you do in harpsichord tuning) but this piano will respond badly to 
that kind of technique.  The tuning pin will bend and twist and slowly return 
to or towards its original position.

Developing an *impact type technique* of one kind or another is the answer.  
Not everyone has the same style but what is essential is that the tuning pin 
be moved with a jarring type motion rather than a smooth pull type movement.  
Jim Coleman, Sr. RPT's video will demonstrate this.  I remember seeing Jim 21 
years ago at the Convention in Minneapolis.  He put the tuning hammer at 1-2 
o'clock and struck it with what I remember looking like a "Karate Chop".  The 
pitch was lowered with the hammer in the same position but with an upward 
thrust from the palm of the hand.

8 years ago, I bought the "WonderWand" tuning hammer, the kind with the ball 
end.  It immediately felt right to me with the kind of technique I usually 
use.  Many people like it but I have seen some remarks from people who can't 
see how you could use it at all.  Considering this, I urge anyone who has a 
problem tuning a Steinway Vertical to find the kind of impact technique which 
seems to work for the individual best.

The WonderWand is relatively light in weight.  Perhaps a very heavy weighted 
tuning hammer may exacerbate the problem, especially considering what some 
have said about how easy it is to change the pitch slightly with minimal 
contact.  If a technician generally prefers a very heavy tuning hammer but 
has difficulty tuning the Steinway vertical, perhaps using and alternative 
lightweight hammer may help when confronted with this problem.

The hammer technique that Jim Coleman and George Defebaugh taught was second 
in importance to the kind of procedure they used.  The use of muting strips 
and nearly always assuming that a fine tuning will be the result of tuning 
the piano at least twice, one rough tuning, one fine tuning.  I would suggest 
that this procedure will help greatly when confronted with the problem of 
springy, 'flagpoling" tuning pins.

Give the piano a rough tuning first, not trying to get it perfect and tuning 
slightly sharp if raising the pitch any amount at all.  Ironically, the 
Steinway vertical will require a little less of calculated overshoot than 
most pianos.  Whatever instability is the result of springy tuning pins will 
sort itself out after the rough tuning, the part where there is very little 
stress because there has been no attempt at nor expectation of the ultimate 
desired accuracy.

In the fine tuning, delicate and slight jarring motions with good, firm test 
blows will settle each string to the desired pitch.  No one at Steinway will 
ever admit to or acknowledge that there is any problem with the design of or 
tunability of those pianos.  As far as the people who make them and usually 
service them are concerned, there isn't a problem, so if you personally have 
difficulty, well...

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin