[AT] OT - using pitchfork

Larry D. Goss rlgoss at evansville.net
Mon Feb 6 19:21:54 PST 2006


Once a piano goes "out" significantly, it takes several tunings over
time to get it back in tune so it will stay.  Typically, four tunings
over a two-year period will do it provided that it is located in an
occupied house (so heat and humidity are reasonably constant) and not
located in direct sunlight or against an outside wall.  Most people just
won't put out that much money to put a 100-year old piano back in shape.
Chickerings were good, but...  I warn customers ahead of time that if
the piano is too far out of tune, all I can hope for is to make it
better.  But when I'm done, there will still be some inaccuracies in the
tuning. I try to bring the whole piano "up" at once, but the harp will
still warp during the tuning process and cause notes that have already
been tuned to go flat. 

Old pianos have a tendency to get corrosion on the strings, and that
really affects the tone.  I can polish the trebles (triple-string notes)
but there is nothing short of replacing the copper-wound bass strings to
bring their response back to original.  The oxide that builds up on them
causes a loss of overtones and that makes the whole bass end sound
muddy.  It has the same effect as when the drummer for a rock band fills
his bass drum with terry towels from the bathroom.  That changes a tuned
bass into a dull thud.

Some tuners take the easy way out and just put an old piano back in tune
with itself rather than try to bring it up to pitch.  That's also
guaranteed to leave an unhappy customer because the overtones on the
whole keyboard that give a piano its brilliance just won't be there.

Enough already.  This is more than you really wanted to know about piano
tuning.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Mike Sloane
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 5:40 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] OT - using pitchfork



Larry D. Goss wrote:
> Tuning pin tightener.
> 
> FWIW, this is a common problem in pianos.  Tuning pins are only held
in
> by friction and when the maple dries out over time they loosen up and
> the piano will no longer hold its tune.  There is a product made to
> solve the problem.  It's called Tuning Pin Tightener.  Anybody can
make
> it though; it's a 50/50 mixture of alcohol and glycerin.  I use Solox
> for the alcohol, but any source will do.
We had an antique Chickoring upright with that problem, and that is how 
the tuner fixed things. But it still wouldn't hold the tune. We had a 
hard time finding a home for that instrument, even giving it away. It 
must have weighed close to 1000 lbs and took 4 very big guys to move it.
> 
> If you have a really large gap in the handle, then apply some Gorilla
> Glue to the application before you insert the tang in the hole.  This
is
> an expanding weatherproof glue that can be used to reconstruct wood
> after it has been miss cut.  The more it's constrained while it's
> setting, the more dense the resulting joint.  Available at Home Depot
> and other such places.
Yes, Gorilla glue is great stuff, but once you put it on a handle, you 
will never get it off if the handle breaks. Also, use rubber gloves when

working with the stuff, or it will turn your fingers black where it 
sits. (Don't ask me how I know this!)

Mike
> 
> Larry
> 

-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
mikesloane at verizon.net
Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by
silence.  -Henri Frederic Amiel philosopher and writer (1821-1881)


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