No-Listen Pitch Raise, was: Advice on a half tone pitch raise

Don pianotuna@accesscomm.ca
Tue, 18 Jan 2005 08:04:39


Hi Terry,

In point form.

- Use it only when you know that the over pull in the treble will exceed 25
cents. 

- The pin you "deaf tune" should be the last one normally tuned on a three
string unison.

- Except in very rare cases, do only the top two treble sections.

- Do not bother to use this "short cut" with wound strings. 

- This is a time saver that may take you from "three pass pitch correction"
to "two pass".

- It may (no definite data, but a gut feeling) help prevent string failure. 

- If over pull would exceed 50 cents I will sometimes "deaf tune" the top
and bottom pins.

- use your normal pitch correction technique when servicing the area that
has been deaf tuned (mute the pre tuned string)

- Be prepared to find those two sections *less* stable as far as unisons go
when you return to tune the piano again. (I don't know why, nor is the deaf
tuned pin necessarily the "most out" when the return visit happens)

I've never had a string fail during deaf tuning.

I'll end with a question. Can some guru out there explain *why* in the
short term deaf tuning allows larger pitch corrections in two passes--yet
appears to lead to, in long terms, less stable unisons in those areas that
it is used? I find the difference quite dramatic and quite clearly defined
to the area of the piano where I have used it.

At 07:35 AM 18/01/2005 -0500, you wrote:
> Phil, I know you talked a bit about this topic before. I have tried it a 
>couple times - and said "never again!" No doubt I am doing something wrong.
> But when I have tried this I just end up with individual strings anywhere 
>from a half-step flat to a half-step sharp (or worse???).

>Terry Farrell

Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat

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