---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment At 01:05 PM 7/30/2005 -0400, you wrote: >I just booked a first-time tuning for a Bluthner grand (first time for me= =20 >to tune it). It is said to be about 55 years old. Is this piano likely to= =20 >have the 4th string aliquot system up in the high treble? If so, is there= =20 >any special tuning techniques for it? I've never tuned one of these. Just= =20 >pluck it and tune it beatless with the other three strings of each note? > >Terry Farrell Hi, Terry. Not sure how much of the piano would have the fourth string, but probably a= =20 lot of the treble. I've only tuned newer ones, which don't start the fourth= =20 string till the high treble. After a pretty short time, tuning the fourth=20 string feels natural enough. It takes two wedges. Keep the fourth string muted, and tune the other three= =20 to as clear a unison as you can, like usual. I found that the three-string= =20 unisons on Bl=FCthners are very, very clear, almost colorless-clear. Then,= =20 remove the last mute, and you'll probably hear the unison get angry, more=20 in timbre than in beats. I tune the fourth string without plucking it, but= =20 barely moving the wire, and try to calm the unison again. It usually will=20 get better, but with a more complex tone than the three main strings alone.= =20 Then I pluck the fourth string to be sure it isn't some screwy place, like= =20 on a different note. If I can't get the unison to clear after I've added in= =20 the fourth string, I'll pluck the fourth string to find out which way to=20 move it, and then tinker a little when it's very close to the other three,= =20 tuning for tone quality. I found that once you get the section settled down, and the unisons tuned=20 for timbre like this, that the fourth string actually seems to add some=20 tuning stability. Have fun -- it's kind of a neat system, really. I don't think that the=20 fourth string is for volume. I think that the more complex, less=20 crystalline sound sustains better. Susan Kline=20 ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/7e/54/a2/4e/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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