[AT] Tuning tractors with pianos.... LOL

Mon Feb 6 23:21:28 PST 2006

Larry, I like the comment about the tuning of a tractor. I should have you 
tune all our gas tractors for me....
        Grant Brians
        Hollister, California
p.s. Our weather is REALLY nice! LOL.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 9:53 PM
Subject: RE: [AT] OT - using pitchfork


> No, you didn't play the Ampico.  I just stood beside it and drooled for
> a while and then crawled around under it to look at the sound board and
> frame.  For the tractor-oriented audience, that's comparable to "kickin'
> tires" without hearing the engine run.
>
> Tuning the Kimball to 440 probably enhanced the overtones and gave it
> more brilliance.  That 5 hertz probably makes less than a 1000-pound
> difference on the load on the harp -- literally.  When you're looking at
> a total of 20 tons for all the strings together, that's only about 2.0%
> to 2.5% increase.  I regularly have to increase the tension on a whole
> piano more than that just to get it back to where it was the last time I
> tuned it.
>
> Back in the 70's when I first started tuning, I got in a discussion with
> one of the vice-president's of the university about transfer of learning
> skills and I told him that I had to listen for exactly the same
> undertone beats when I tune a tractor engine as I listen for when I tune
> a piano.  The comment caught him completely off-guard because he had no
> idea that there were any similarities.
>
> Larry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of George Willer
> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 10:41 PM
> To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
> Subject: RE: [AT] OT - using pitchfork
>
> Larry,
>
> I'm not really sure due to CRS, but I think my 1916 Kimball was
> originally
> tuned to A-435.  When I rebuilt it I tuned it to A-440.  It's probably
> way
> off from correct, but it is, after all a honky tonk piano that sounds
> good
> to me when the added mandolin rail is used.  :-)  The Fischer-Ampico is
> quite another matter.  It's tuning is long overdue. Did I play it when
> you
> were here?
>
> George Willer
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-
>> bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Larry D. Goss
>> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 10:22 PM
>> To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
>> Subject: RE: [AT] OT - using pitchfork
>>
>> 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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