> Ok, so 2 passes is always better than one. IMHO, yes, but if everything is within one cent, and some pretty much right on, I will sometime just do one pass. > when a piano is, within, > say, 2 or 3 cents, is one pass OK? OK, yes. Good, no. If a piano or a section of a piano is 2 cents flat, I will make a separate pitch raise pass through that area. > Also, what is the farthest flat for a piano to be > before you all might recommend three passes (one up to > pitch with no overpull, second with overpull, third > fine tune)? For me, somewhere in the 50 to 60 cents range. > Also, is there ever any case where > someone would recommend four or more passes? (We'll > assume that the pinblock and bridges are in fair > condition (good enough to take a pitch raise).) Sure! I tuned one piano in a soon-to-be Florida State Historical somethingorother. Old Civil-War era farmhouse had been abandoned since the great depression. In it stood the old upright from the 1870s straight strung. I did at least four passes - I think quite a few more - I lost count. It was a good 400 or 500 cents flat as I recall. Just wanted to go a tad at a time. I seem to recall that we left it 50 cents flat or so - they needed to lock the place up. But they did have their sing along with the piano the next weekend. My contact lady said all went well! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Airy" <stephen_airy@yahoo.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 4:00 PM Subject: Re: tuning speed > Ok, so 2 passes is always better than one. > > Here's part of my question -- when a piano is, within, > say, 2 or 3 cents, is one pass OK? Or, what is the > max it can be off before two passes is recommended? > > Also, what is the farthest flat for a piano to be > before you all might recommend three passes (one up to > pitch with no overpull, second with overpull, third > fine tune)? Also, is there ever any case where > someone would recommend four or more passes? (We'll > assume that the pinblock and bridges are in fair > condition (good enough to take a pitch raise).) > > --- David Love <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net> wrote: > > Reading all these posts on whether one pass or two > > is more accurate I think > > that the focus has been in the wrong area. All > > things being equal, two > > passes will always be more accurate than one. A > > second pass at some level > > should always be done to insure accuracy. The > > question should really be > > about what should be accomplished on each pass. The > > answer lies partially > > in the psychology of perception. > > > > One's ability to make fine discriminations will > > always be related to the > > range of the field. The smaller the range, the > > greater ones ability to make > > fine discriminations. In practice, that means that > > if you are pulling the > > piano into tune from all over the place, you will > > not be able to > > discriminate subtleties in the quality of the > > unisons that you would be if > > the piano were already basically in tune. > > Similarly, for example, if you > > are adjusting repetition springs and the tensions > > are somewhat chaotic, you > > will not be able to perceive small differences as > > easily on the first pass > > as you will on the second. Thus the argument for > > going over a regulation > > more than once as well. > > > > As far as what you should try to accomplish on each > > pass, then, on the first > > pass you should try to get the piano in as good tune > > as possible without > > lingering too long. My goal is that if I leave it > > after the first pass, I > > won't have much doubt as to its acceptibility. You > > should definitely > > concentrate on making sure that each string is set > > and stable. For me that > > means tuning with test blow force, checking with > > soft blows, and not leaving > > any string until I am confident that it is going to > > stay there. A quick > > first pass that doesn't achieve at least that is, to > > me, a waste of time. > > On the second pass, one should only be listening to > > the unisons and making > > very small refinements. The fewer changes you have > > to make, the easier it > > will be to make very fine discriminations. You > > certainly don't want to be > > guessing as to whether any note will withstand a > > hard blow. If you are in > > doubt, you better check each pin again. One or two > > unisons that don't hold > > from normal playing is too many. > > > > As far as speed goes, it doesn't really matter. If > > you find after much > > practice that it takes you 4 hours to tune a piano > > you might want to > > consider whether your ability to earn enough money > > might be compromised. I > > personally can't do a good solid tuning in much less > > than an hour and it's > > usually 1.00 - 1.25 hours for a piano that is > > basically out of tune. When I > > was a strict aural tuner, it took a little bit > > longer. I do them faster > > sometimes for a variety of reasons, but I like to > > feel confident when I > > leave the piano that there aren't any whiny unisons > > and that the piano will > > stand up to very hard playing. I charge accordingly > > and make no compromises > > between my ability to earn a living and deliver > > quality work. > > > > David Love > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! > http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/
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