Patton does teach that shank trick, not too much pressure, just enough to offset the string by a couple mm's. He uses that only in the capo section. Interestingly, you find that when you test for stability that way that too hard a "test blow" can actually destabilize the string segments. A couple of firm but not crashing blows is all I find is necessary (though it can depend on the piano and how easily it renders). Tune mf, listen p, test f but not fff. The lower in the piano you go the less firm the test blow needs to be as the increased mass and extrusion of the larger diameter and longer strings tends to settle and stabilize things more easily. Use two fingers together (or better two fingers and thumb pinched together at the tips) on the test blows to lessen the impact on a single finger and joint. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com In a message dated 9/3/2009 9:30:34 P.M. Central Daylight Time, formsma at gmail.com writes: You can try what someone from Steinway (John Patton perhaps?) taught. Use a hammer shank to see if the string is set. Apply lightish pressure on the string at about the same angle as the bridge pin. You'll probably have to experiment with how much pressure is needed. If stable, the pitch won't change. However, this is cumbersome. I tried this for quite a number of tunings, and have since gone back to a firm test blow merely for the sake of speed. My firm blow is usually no harder than the weight of my hand and arm falling on the key. One or two of those blows will prove stability. I need to get into the habit of letting my arm fall on the key to save my joints. Hard to break old habits. -- JF _____ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090904/51b9ce91/attachment.htm>
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