stability of pitch raises

[Paul]

Tom
Thanks for bringing this up. I was taught to pitch correct (up or down) very
quickly to keep the piano from "settling" out of tune. I tell my clients the
same thing but rarely am called back because the piano "went out of tune."
In homes where the climate is more stable, these pianos are quite close to
where I put them when I see them again as you mention.  After following the
thread on plate compression and soundboard movement, I'm thinking that
almost all that occurs during the pitch correction. When I do get called
back, I usually find the piano has shifted more to weather change than pitch
correction. So I've never determined which has the biggest impact. Maybe in
this area the weather affects override any settling. Hmmmm.

Paul Chick
----- Original Message -----
From: <Tvak@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 8:56 PM
Subject: stability of pitch raises


> I do all my pitch raises using RCT, so I end up very close to pitch after
the
> first pass.  If the piano is 50 cents flat or more, I have always warned
the
> client that a pitch-raised tuning is a less stable tuning, and that their
> piano may need another tuning in 3 or 4 months.   Rarely do they actually
> call me in 3 months.  Most often I come back in a year...OR TWO, and I am
> usually surprised at how well the piano has stayed in tune.  Not that the
> piano doesn't need a tuning, but it's tolerable enough that I can
understand
> why I haven't been called back sooner.  I suppose it's possible that the
> piano did all its drifting in the first 3 months, and just stayed there,
but
> I'm starting to wonder about the conventional wisdom that a pitch-raised
> tuning is less stable.
>
> Could it be that the use of the RCT negates the instability issue by
virtue
> of getting the piano so close to pitch after the first pass?
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Tom Sivak
>