[pianotech] offset of SAT to non-440

[David Ilvedson]

Wim,

Then you've got a bone to pick with me too... '-]   But...for the private customer, I do tune to A440 and usually that entails a 2 pass tuning...but for concert work, I'm looking to make as little change as possible...1 cent is too much if I can help it...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: wimblees at aol.com
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Received: 8/3/2009 8:31:50 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] offset of SAT to non-440


>David

>Even when you do a non-offest tuning, after you?do the FAC, if you go to A4 and 
>play it, you'll notice that the lights don't stand still. There is probably a very good 
>explanation for this, but take it for what it's worth, and just tune the piano. It will 
>come out OK.?

>But I've got a bone to pick with you for?tuning it "where it's at". In my opinion, 
>unless the customer specifically asks to have the piano tuned to some other 
>pitch,?we're?being paid to tune the piano to A440.?If, by November, or some other 
>month, it needs to be done again, well,....?? that's what we're in business for.?

>The only time I will tune a piano lower than A440 is when it's a very old upright or 
>grand with rusty strings, and tuning it up to pitch will create more problems than the 
>customer is willing to pay for.??


>Wim

>-----Original Message-----
>From: David Nereson <da88ve at gmail.com>
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Sent: Mon, Aug 3, 2009 10:41 am
>Subject: [pianotech] offset of SAT to non-440



>First of all, I did call Inventronics about this first, but just couldn't seem to get "on 
>the same page."?
>? This time of year, most pianos are sharp from summer humidity. Rather than lower 
>them all down to A440, knowing they'll need a pitch raise in November if I do, I just 
>tune them sharp. This requires offsetting the SAT to a sharper pitch.?
>? Following the outlined procedure in the instruction manual, I turn the unit on, press 
>Tune, then play A4 on the piano, then press the Cents Up button on the SAT (III) 
>until the lights stop, then press Shift, Reset. The unit should now be offset to the 
>higher pitch. Then I go ahead and measure the SAT numbers and store them to a 
>page in memory. Before starting in to tune, I go to A4 on the SAT and play A4 on 
>the piano to make sure the lights are still stopped, i.e., that the unit is offset to the 
>pitch of A4.?
>? Here's the problem: the lights are never stopped at A4 after performing the offset. 
>They're always rotating counterclockwise, indicating that A4 is flat! Well, I don't 
>want to raise the piano any sharper! Why, after having supposedly offset the unit's 
>reference point, does it still show A4 as flat? Should I have A5 or A6 in the window 
>when I offset? (I've tried both, and it doesn't seem to make any difference.) The 
>guy at Inventronics said to "drop down a couple cents," or to "leave off a couple 
>cents" or something like that, but I'm not sure what he meant.?
>? In reality, I don't raise the whole piano to the sharpness of the low tenor, which is 
>usually the sharpest area of the piano. I'll lower the low tenor some, leave the treble 
>where it is, and maybe pull the bass up a tad. On older pianos, I don't like to have to 
>pull the bass up ANY, because of possible string breakage, but if I don't then I have 
>to lower all of the tenor and treble, and do a pitch raise when November comes 
>along. And these school systems don't want to tune more than once a year if they 
>can get away with it.?
>? But I digressed. Why don't the lights stand still after having supposedly offset the 
>pitch??
>? --David Nereson, RPT?
>?