[pianotech] offset of SAT to non-440

[David Ilvedson]

Yes, you missed something...I'm offsetting the pitch, i.e A4 will not be A440.   The FAC numbers are entered and stored on a page of memory.   At that point I offset the pitch, then pull up the page for that piano...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "William Monroe" <bill at a440piano.net>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Received: 8/4/2009 6:42:04 AM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] offset of SAT to non-440


>David,

>Don't forget that after you've offset the pitch, you've then gone through
>the FAC procedure which requires you to tune A4 at it's second partial (A5)
>and then read it at A6 to get the A offset.  In other words, you've changed
>that A4 that you measured to offset pitch when you established the FAC
>numbers.  So, the fact that A4 is now flat is because you've changed it from
>where it was, no?  Did I miss something?  Hope that helps.

>William R. Monroe



>On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 3:41 PM, David Nereson <da88ve at gmail.com> wrote:

>>   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
>>
>>
>>