[pianotech] Reducing tuning time (was Re: frustrated)

[Encore Pianos]

My original impetus to try doing this method was trying to get rid of the yo
yo effect in high treble tuning when the pins are tight.  You know - move
the pin, it jumps half a mile north, move it again, it jumps half a mile
south, repeat ad nauseum.  So I started playing with the slow drag up and it
works well.  In that circumstance, it seems far easier to have a stable pin
set.

I don't know how to answer your question with any specific knowledge.  But I
suspect that it catches up while the pin is moving and arrives at the stop
point in that state and stays there, since there is nothing more to do if we
have moved the pin accurately.  

Since this is a relatively new movement pattern for you and likely not yet
fully committed  to muscle memory, I say keep playing with it.  As your
technique improves with repetition, you will find that you can quickly drag
the pin south, start quickly moving back up and ease back on your speed as
you are coming onto your target spot.  I also have found that if I am a
little unsure whether I have arrived at the stop point and may be just a tad
south of it, if I hold my pin push (I have not released the pressure on the
hammer), I can nudge it that little bit more and maintain all the benefits
of this movement pattern in terms of stability.  But if I release the
pressure of my hand on the tuning hammer, I have to start over because the
pin will twist on its axis.

Perhaps an appropriate moniker for this technique would be to call it Drag
and Drop Tuning. 

Will 



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Jim Ialeggio
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 10:40 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Reducing tuning time (was Re: frustrated)

Will,

I glad you posted this.  Faced with a couple of challenging recalcitrant
poorly rendering grands in the last couple weeks, I came up with a movement
similar to what you describe...Lower the pitch by moving the pin move the
pin much more than I normally do, then slowly come up to, but not over the
pitch.  If  I overshot, do it all again, but coming down was way too chancy
and I avoided it except for tiny nudges south. 
With these poorly rendering items, they just would not tolerate any
significant downward pin and pitch motion.

Didn't make sense to me at first, but the stability was greatly improved.

I'm a lefty, but I tune right handed mostly, and was doing this movement
right handed.

You describe what you think the pin is doing. In my experience, at least on
these recalcitrantly rendering ones, the front segment was also highly
involved. I say this, because previously, when I came from above, lowering
the pin to target, 10 minutes later, despite my normal rapid fire mf key
strikes followed by strong blows, the front segment slowly gave way and
continued dropping. Now maybe it dropped because the CCW rotation of the pin
to what seemed like the target, let the pin relax 
back to neutral, slackening the front segment.   I guess if I were a 
front segment hanging up on understring felt and other nasties, CW motion of
the pin would force me over the felt whether I liked it or not, whereas CCW
rotation of the pin would let me have my own ornery recalitrant mind.

Does anyone know whether when the full pin, bottom & top,is in motion,
whether the bottom has caught up to the top, or whether, depending on the
block and block torque, the bottom is still dragging somewhat behind the pin
top as the pitch is raised?

Jim Ialeggio

-- 
Jim Ialeggio	
jim at grandpianosolutions.com
978 425-9026
Shirley Center, MA