Hi Barbara For what its worth, I also use a kind of jerking style and find it to be the only thing that yields the stability I want. Tho I dont necessarily come down from above. Keeping slight pressure on the pin downwards (outwards on the grand.. or towards the string) while moving the pin apparently counters the need to <<untwist>> or release any tension in the pin. Actually I experience often as not that the pitch will rise a little after leaving the pin if it does anything. One trick I sometimes use to check whether got the pin where I want it is to see if equal (slight) pressure up and down on the pin changes the pitch from the desired pitch in equal amounts. I agree also on the tuning unisons as I go bit. All this said, I have begun to speculate in the recent past whether or not jerking the pins into place... even with tiny jerks as I use somehow contributes to the development of <<popping pins>> i.e. pins that simply will not turn smoothly. Pure speculation at this point... or perhaps not even more then a sneaking suspicion Cheers RicB Barbara Richmond writes: OK, another voice. Smooth pull rarely works for me and has never worked for me on a S&S. The only way to stability for me is the jerk method, coming down from above pitch and <good> test blows. One D I take care of in a concert setting has plenty of tuning issues--pins bearing on the plate, popping pins, all our favorites, yet the tunings hold up beautifully using this technique (knock on wood). Oh, yes, and tuning stability went way up when I switched to tuning unisons as I go. Someone suggested a drop of CA for the popping pins. I haven't tried it yet. Anyone? Barbara Richmond, RPT
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