And don't forget to keep the wire clean...;-] David I. On 16 Jan 2003 at 12:21, tune4u@earthlink.net wrote: > You don't want to have to reschedule a tuning (and start over) or tune > a piano that the owner can't play, all for lack of 15 cents worth of > wire! Unprofessional, IMHO, and not profitable. > > Does using the right size matter. YES. Unless you like whiny, howling > unisons. Relative to everything else a tuner needs to have on hand, > piano wire is cheap. > > I'm sure that everyone on the list will agree that it is a great > temptation to start compromising on those "cheap" pianos you > mentioned. But maintaining your professionalism will pay off in the > long run. Make every piano sound the best it reasonably can and try to > educate your clients--the art of that is educating them without > insulting them or their pianos! Some will upgrade, eventually. Some > will pay you $$$ to improve their pianos. Some will refer you to > people with better pianos. I say, just because it's a shlock piano, > don't be a shlock tuner! > > And a large part of your business is going to be on shlock pianos--at > least in the early years. > > For plain wire, stock every size and half size from 12 up to 20. > Schaff sells a "starter kit" with most of these sizes (catalog p. 36). > > Wound strings are another matter. I haven't gotten into using > universals. I splice them when I can, send the old one to Mapes when I > must. If it is a bichord, they can play it on one string--although > this is hard on action parts and should be limited--and if it's a > unichord .... well, they can do without for a few days but you can > still finish the tuning ... <G> > > *** Pay a little extra and buy enough brakes to put one on each and > every coil! This is not an option for anyone wishing to maintain their > sanity. > > *** Keep your fingers and other body parts out of the way of wire > under tension. Carry band-aids in your tool kit. Wear safety > glasses--always, always, always when doing string work -- never, ever > make an exception to this rule! (Did I say that strongly enough? There > are plenty of wonderful blind tuners in this business, but you need > not join that club.) > > Learn patience. > > And yes, you must carry (in your car, not your primary tool kit) at > least the following: 2 1/2 lb sledge, heavy pliers with wire cutter, > coil maker (purchase or make one), coil lifter, sting spacer/lifter, > tuning pin setter and/or punch, and stringing hook. > > Other tools are more optional but very useful: pin crank, string > stretcher. The Sciortino Insta-Coiler is expensive but I really like > it when it works. Unfortunately it works beautifully about 1/2 the > time and not at all the other half. I'd wait on that one. > > It's okay to be frugal, but it's a pain to be unprepared and looking > like a tooner. Check ebay for used tools. > > Hope it helps. > > Alan Barnard > Salem, MO > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Charles Neuman" <piano@charlesneuman.net> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 11:02 AM > Subject: newbie question: stocking strings > > > > I don't want to be one of those guys who doesn't fix broken strings. > > But where do you start, in terms of stocking treble strings? Should > > I really have every size (that's quite a big initial investment), or > > are there common sizes I should start with? > > > > Also, how bad is it to be about .003" off? That is, if I stocked > > sizes that are .005" apart, then I'd be plus or minus .0025" at > > most. I'm expecting some negative responses to that, but I like to > > hear them. I assume levelling is an issue, not to mention tone and > > tension. But for a cheap piano, does it matter really? > > > > Charles Neuman > > Long Island > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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