Working while tuning

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
The amount of time spent at a piano is related to what it needs (as 
well as your experience).

If a piano needs pitch-correction, you tune fast and dirty, 
essentially re-tensioning the piano and then coming back one, or two 
times to fine-tune it.  If it is way low I figure three passes with 
the second pass a little better and the fine-tuning pass last.  If 
you try to fine-tune it on each pass you will lose time.  With 
practice you will get a feel for how much to move a pin to get the 
pitch change you want.  Some technicians, more experienced than I, 
will crank every pin without listening when they find a piano low and 
then tune it.  That takes more confidence than I have ;-)

It all comes down to experimentation and practice.

I spent all day working on two neglected pianos, one a refurbished 
wreck which was probably better before it was refurbished.  Spent 
quite a bit of time pushing beckets back into the pins, driving coils 
below the beckets, tightening loose coils, un-braiding tangled coils 
etc.  At the end of the day I got a very good cheque.

Good luck,
Andrew Anderson


At 07:32 PM 1/4/2006, you wrote:
>Hey Guys, as in friends not just guys
>Speaking of starting out  I'm a little discouraged about the amount 
>of time it takes to tune a piano.  I'm almost too embarassed to say 
>how long it takes me.
>
>Today, I did a free piano, a practice piano for a Catholic Thrift 
>store.  It was a small grand, an off brand I've never heard 
>of.  Made somewhere in Jersey.  Anyway, it was sooooo flat, that I 
>had to raise pitch and tune at the same time.  I mean it was so off 
>that non of the octives even sounded remotely like each other.  I 
>labored over that thing for 6 hours.  It had lose tuning pins plus 
>other regulating issues.  I wouldn't be suprised if it had cracks in 
>the sound board.  It was interesting.  The lid porpped up like a 
>grand, but had another divided part that flipped back before I could 
>take off the panel that exposes the pins.  I labored over that thing 
>for 6 hours. I guess all of you pros out there are probably have a 
>good laugh over that one. :)
>
>So what can I do to improve my speed. I lose time inserting the 
>rubber mute and getting to the right pin, ie. counting dampers to 
>make sure I have the right set of pin, oh ok A# is three pins to the 
>right of the strut etc.
>
>I'll probably have to go back and retune it if they'll let me.  One 
>of the cashiers kept asking customers if they wanted to take me with 
>them on their way out.  Imagine that, I could have had a free dinner 
>and didn't know it. I took my family out instead.
>Marshall
>
>-------------- Original message --------------
>From: Ron Nossaman <rnossaman@cox.net>
>
> >
> > > It is all about confidence. I was regularly asked the question of how
> > > long I had been tuning when I first started out. Now it hardly every
> > > gets asked.
> > >
> > > Dean
> >
> > I still get asked once in awhile. "Long enough to know better" is
> > the usual reply.
> > Ron N
> > _______________________________________________
> > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/34/9c/a9/af/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--