SAT Stock Tunings

[Avery Todd]

Terry,

Just wondering. Did you try plucking the F string with your finger as Jim
Coleman suggests? When I can't get a reading the normal way, I've
always been able to get one by plucking.

Avery

At 10:00 AM 02/22/01 -0500, you wrote:
>As a follow up to the recent thread on using the stock SAT tunings VS always
>using FAC values from the piano. I agree. Use FAC values from the piano.
>BUT, if for some reason that is not possible/practical/etc..........
>
>I tuned two pianos yesterday, a recent vintage Kawai KG-2 grand (decent
>piano) and a 1902 Kimball upright (REALLY bad news). On both pianos I could
>not get an "F" value. I even tried nearby strings. I first zeroed in on the
>F5 partial and then went tabbed the machine one octave up to measure the
>inharmonicity, and on both pianos, I could not get a light pattern. The SAT
>would not pick up the partial.
>
>SOooooooooo, what did I do? Rely on my non-existent aural skills? No way.
>For the Kawai, I used the generic KG-2 tuning. The F value looked
>reasonable, and the A and C values were EXACTLY what I measured on that
>piano. Sampled some octaves & double & triple octaves and they were right
>on. No need for DOB adjustment. Kimball - same thing. I used the Baldwin 52"
>generic tuning - didn't even check the A and C values on the piano (it was
>soooooo baaaaad). Check a few octaves, BINGO!, perfect. No DOB adjustment.
>If the octaves were a bit off, I would simply have used the DOB feature to
>adjust my octave widths.
>
>Yesterday was a good day to use Sanderson's generic tunings. And yes,
>otherwise I always use measured FAC values from the individual piano (plus I
>always measure all three of the A strings and average if they are close -
>sometimes I even measure other strings).
>
>Terry Farrell
>Piano Tuning & Service
>Tampa, Florida
>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com