Verituner and Pitch Raises

[David Love]

One hundred cents would be asking a lot of any machine.  The pitch raise
function is really designed to give a fairly accurate tuning when the piano
is moderately flat or sharp, I would say less than 20 cents.  You can
select your preferences for how much overpull there will be as you are
tuning.  The machine doesn't really "calculate" on overall tuning, rather,
it measures each note as you go and gives you a percentage overpull for
that note depending on how you program it.  For example, in the bass you
may want 16% overpull, in the midrange 28%, in the upper range 32%.  You
can program the machine to give you those numbers, or change them as you
like.  Then, as you are tuning, it will measure each note and tell you how
far over you must pull it to achieve your selected percentage.  How
accurate the final product is will depend somewhat on how evenly the piano
is out of tune.  For 100 cents flat you will have some reading
problems--the machine isn't quite sure what note you want--so you have to
change notes manually.  I would count on at least 2 passes for a rough
tuning of a piano at 100 cents off.  A pitch raise that requires accurate
unison tuning (if you want to leave the piano after you are done with one
pass) will take as long as it takes you to tune them aurally.  

David Love
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net


> [Original Message]
> From: John Formsma <john@formsmapiano.com>
> To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Date: 5/27/2004 6:29:39 AM
> Subject: Verituner and Pitch Raises
>
> I'm trying to figure out if it's worth spending $1500 for the Verituner
> or other needed shop tools and supplies. (I'm quite comfortable with
> aural tuning, but if I get an ETD, it's going to be a Verituner.)
>
> For those out there who use the Verituner, here's a question about the
> pitch raises it calculates.
>
> The Verituner sounds like it can calculate a pitch raise and get the
> piano really close in one pass.
>
> If so, I can definitely see a time-saving advantage of being able to
> raise Mrs. Jones' spinet 100 cents in one pass, then come back in a
> month and do a tuning after things have settled down. Is it that good,
> or are two passes usually necessary as in aural tuning?
>
> How quickly can you do a pitch raise with the Verituner? By comparison,
> I can pitch correct in 15 minutes or so, but I couldn't leave the piano
> in that condition. Even if it took 30-40 minutes for a Verituner pitch
> raise, it would be less time than I currently need for a pitch
> raise/fine tuning.
>
> Has the Verituner made your working life much, much easier; slightly
> easier; or about the same? Has it become a crutch?
>
> Any other thoughts?
>
> John Formsma
>
>
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