[pianotech] Harpsichord Tuning Pin Torque?

[Joseph Garrett]

Frank,
I know all of that! Thanks for the input, but the owner wants the
instrument as it was intended by Sabatihl, (even tho I know that it's not a
good design). I'm just making it so that it won't self-destruct again. Am I
making it beefier were needed? You betcha! Will it REALLY sound like a
delicate little, (mamby pamby), harpsichord? NOPE! Wasn't designed like
that to begin with.<G> I'm making it prettier as well. All I need is a
number for the tuning pin torque....nothing else...except, maybe some
sympathy for taking on the job in the first place.<G> (checking my sanity
is out of the question, as that's been an issue for many years!<G>)
Regards,
Joe

Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon)
Captain, Tool Police
Squares R I



> [Original Message]
> From: George F Emerson <pianoguru at cox.net>
> To: <joegarrett at earthlink.net>; <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Date: 9/16/10 12:06:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Harpsichord Tuning Pin Torque?
>
> > ...... It seems, everything on a harpsichord is 'by feel'
> > or 'because that's the way it has been done', with little or no R & D.
Why
> > is that?
>
> In early writing about tuning methods for harpsichords, the instruction
for 
> a pitch standard was: Pull the tension up until you think it might break, 
> then back off a little.  That's your pitch standard!  Bare in mind that
this 
> was long before the time of Hertz.  They didn't even have a unit of
measure 
> to quantify pitch.
>
> In the early 20th c., the harpsichord had all but disappeared from use, 
> until Wanda Landowska revitalized interest in the instrument.  When 
> craftsmen took up the task of building such instruments, it was with the 
> attitude that we have learned SO much from piano building over the past 
> century or so, surely we can do a better job of this than they did
hundreds 
> of years ago.  So, they build harpsichords like Sherman tanks.  They
didn't 
> look much like harpsichords, and they certainly didn't sound much like 
> harpsichords.  Don't fall into that trap.  Don't try to beef-it-up. 
Think 
> of it as a guitar with a keyboard.  You may already be blocked into a 
> certain amount of that with a Sabatihl instrument, but you have the 
> opportunity to undo some of it, and restore it to a more "traditional"
style 
> of construction.
>
> Regarding pin torque, a truly traditional instrument has tapered pins, as 
> others have noted.  You have control of the pin torque, as you tune it. 
A 
> light tap tightens it, and wiggling the pin out a bit loosens it.  You
can 
> remove the pin to replace a string as often as you like without
substantial 
> damage to the block.  The idea of zither pins (miniature piano tuning
pins) 
> was a bad idea to begin with.
>
> Frank Emerson 
>
>
>
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