[pianotech] Further explanation: How long do unisons hold?

[Barbara Richmond]

The majority of pianos I service are nicer & newer. What surprises me--because I don't know better--is to walk up to a piano that was tuned six months ago, with unisons virtually intact (maybe slight rolls, certainly no screamers), but the pitch in the tenor has shifted 10-15 cents. I can't remember when I noticed this trend--maybe it was after I switched to a Fujan hammer almost 4 years ago--either that, or I just happened to start paying attention. :-)
 
Don't worry, I still get plenty of humble pie--especially when one of these pianos has a screamer the next time I see it. :-o

Fortunately, my customers who are *really* heavy handed (I wince when they test the piano after I tune, because I think there's no way my tuning will hold up to their playing), all have partial or full DC systems on their pianos--which, at least, removes the humidity swing variable.  

Barbara Richmond, RPT 
near Peoria, Illinois 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean May" <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com> 
To: pianotech at ptg.org 
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 7:19:07 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central 
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Further explanation: How long do unisons hold? 




Well your C3 examples are the perfect illustration- identical pianos tuned at the same time. Unless you are stopping by the bar before tuning the pianos that end up horrible, the stable pianos give proof that you are giving a stable tuning. No outside influence I’m aware of will take a poor tuning and make the unisons stable. But we know the converse is true: outside influences can and do take a relatively solid tuning and destroy the unisons. 




Dean 

Dean W May (812) 235-5272 

PianoRebuilders.com (888) DEAN-MAY 

Terre Haute IN 47802 




From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Terry Farrell 
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 11:21 PM 
To: pianotech at ptg.org 
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Further explanation: How long do unisons hold? 



That's what can be confusing. Some pianos, such as those that I tune on cruise ships (Yamaha C3s) I see every two weeks. Some are pretty good after that time and some are horrible. The other end of the spectrum is a lady who has a Baldwin Hamilton (maybe 1970 or so) and the once per year that I see it, I often start out - after an initial listen - wondering why she wants to tune it - the darn thing is sooooooo stable. 





Seems hard to judge. 





Terry Farrell 






On Mar 9, 2010, at 8:43 PM, Dean May wrote: 








A good check on yourself is to look at the pianos you regularly service. When you find a lot of unisons still fairly decent after 6 to 12 months, pat yourself on the back. You are doing a good job. 





Some pianos are awful in that amount of time of course. I comfort myself with the knowledge that lots of pianos I tune regularly are not. I know that my tuning skill can produce a moderately stable tuning because I’ve seen lots of these among my clientele. So for those that go awful, chock it up to environmental/other issues. 





Dean 

Dean W May