Setting them pins!

[Farrell]

Like Wim, I don't know what you mean about setting the pin "hard".

One thing I like to do sometimes when I am not quite sure that I have the pin in a neutral torque state, is to wiggle the pin forward and backward a little bit to see that it will go up and down in pitch with similar effort. If I find that it goes down real easy, but not up, I know it will go down as soon as I walk away from the piano. You can test pins now and then like that just to be sure your "feel" is good. Make sense?

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Benny L. Tucker" <precisionpiano@alltel.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 10:40 PM
Subject: Setting them pins!


> Hi folks,
>     I would appreciate some feedback on pin setting technique. In the past,
> I would always set the pin pretty hard.
>     During my short career in piano technology, I've had a chance to
> re-visit several customers for 6-month/yearly tunings. My findings on return
> trips were kinda disappointing.
>     I'm always trying to improve my technique, and I just got to wondering
> if I was setting the pin "too hard" leaving a little too much twist in it.
>     Now I'm pretty confident that my string settling is pretty good, simply
> because I pound pretty heavy during tuning, and my tunings seem stable
> enough when I'm finished. "I can't knock it out of tune" after I'm finished.
> But, I've heard some pianos that I've tuned and they sounded pretty bad just
> a couple of weeks later. Others last for months on end, not sounding great,
> but not too bad either.
>     To cut to the chase, I'm currently not setting the pin hard at all, just
> a counter-clockwise push until the "beginning" of resistance is felt. Now
> I'm sure there is no excess twist in the pin, but for some reason I can't
> get confidence in this technique. It just don't "feel right" If I don't push
> hard down-pitch.
>     So, my question this time, "How hard to you guys and gals set the pins"?
> And do you feel confident with it's holding power?
> 
> Thanks for your input!
> 
> Benny L. Tucker
> Precision Piano Tuning & Repair
> Thomaston, Ga.
> 
> 
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