birdcage pitch?

[Gregor _]

Terry,
 
yes, probably you are right. But I was afraid of breaking strings and I had the hope that the the likelyhood of damage is smaller. Of course there are pianos where I have not so great doubts. Last week I did such a pitch raise without any problems (in field service), but that piano was built 1935 and not 1900.
 
And yes, 6 or 7 passes are a lot of work. On the other hand: the tuning was still stable after 4 month and only 1.5 to 2 cents flat in all areas. That´s pretty unusual. Is it possible that there is a relation between the stability and these 7 passes?
 
Gregor


From: mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.comTo: pianotech at ptg.orgSubject: Re: birdcage pitch?Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:44:07 -0400



"In general I don´t do such extreme pitch raises up to 440 Hz in field service."
 
Why not? Piano owners pay good $$ for such a service.
 
"I was not brave enough to tune it on 440 first, so first I tuned it between 1 and 2 half tones flat and went on to 440. I think it took me 6 or 7 passes that day."
 
Six or seven passes? Sounds like a lot of work. You should be able to do such a pitch raise in two and a half passes. First pass A440 plus ten cents in the bass and maybe 20 cents on the long bridge. After that first pass the bass and tenor might be in the range of 30 to 50 cents flat. The treble will likely be more flat - so go through the treble a second time and raise it so that it ends up 20 or 30 cents flat. Then go through the entire scale doing a normal pitch raise with appropriate overpull. 
 
I do it like that often. Works well.
 
Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
 It´s not so seldom that I see pianos a minor third flat. Usualy the reason is that they were not tuned for 40 years. I bought such a piano last year and tuned it in several passes up to 440 and it turned out to be a very very nice piano (from 1900 or so) with a really great sound (139 cm high) and 440 Hz worked very well. But I was not brave enough to tune it on 440 first, so first I tuned it between 1 and 2 half tones flat and went on to 440. I think it took me 6 or 7 passes that day. That was in November. Last week I sold it and it was still only 2 cents flat. The reason for beeing so flat: it stood on a floor heating for 35 years and the seller had it not let tuned since then.  In general I don´t do such extreme pitch raises up to 440 Hz in field service. I do it only if the piano is in my ownership. Usualy it´s not a problem to communicate that problem to the customer: Birdcage, some kind of rotten and a third flat? Go and buy a decent piano or accept the status quo. Can´t afford a decent piano? Okay, bad luck and I see the problem, but I am only the messenger. Concerning the Lindner Irish plastic pianos: don´t even try to service or tune them. These "pianos" are the most worse case scenarios I encountered in my life as piano tuner. And I saw a lot of strange things in that business. Gregor
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