Pianotech

The gist of this is to ask, what am I missing?

I now have four customers with Knight upright pianos. Identical except for the lovely veneer. Identical, also, in that they all sound like garbage and are basically untuneable. All four of them have serious false beating strings from A0 through C8, yet the bridges all look perfect. Unisons are impossible. Yet, all four customers love their Knight pianos and let me know how much better they sound after I have "tuned" them. 

The piano has a strange almost human vibrato characteristic to it when it is in tune. Not offensive but not at all still, like we have learned to expect with no false beating strings and all the unisons clean. 

All four of them are the late '60s. 

Everything I read about Knight pianos says they are extraordinary. Sometimes even compared to Steinway (uprights).

What am I missing?

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Geoff Sykes, RPT
Los Angeles CA
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Geoff

I have several Knights I take care of. None of mine have the characteristics you describe. They are not perfect, and maybe I've learned how to "tune out" most of the false beats, but they are stable. I tune them once every 3 or 4 years and they are usually dead on.  I've had to replace the key leads, though.

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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2018 01:13
From: Geoff Sykes
Subject: Knight pianos

The gist of this is to ask, what am I missing?

I now have four customers with Knight upright pianos. Identical except for the lovely veneer. Identical, also, in that they all sound like garbage and are basically untuneable. All four of them have serious false beating strings from A0 through C8, yet the bridges all look perfect. Unisons are impossible. Yet, all four customers love their Knight pianos and let me know how much better they sound after I have "tuned" them.

The piano has a strange almost human vibrato characteristic to it when it is in tune. Not offensive but not at all still, like we have learned to expect with no false beating strings and all the unisons clean.

All four of them are the late '60s.

Everything I read about Knight pianos says they are extraordinary. Sometimes even compared to Steinway (uprights).

What am I missing?

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Geoff Sykes, RPT
Los Angeles CA
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Hi Geoff,

I have a couple of these and while I don't dislike them as much as you seem to, they are nothing to brag about.
And the 'celeste' (mute rail) is a nuisance.
I'd take a good P22 any time over these.

Michael

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Michael Gutowski, RPT, TEC
Chicago Chapter, VP
chicagotuner@aol.com
847-759-0369
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2018 01:13
From: Geoff Sykes
Subject: Knight pianos

The gist of this is to ask, what am I missing?

I now have four customers with Knight upright pianos. Identical except for the lovely veneer. Identical, also, in that they all sound like garbage and are basically untuneable. All four of them have serious false beating strings from A0 through C8, yet the bridges all look perfect. Unisons are impossible. Yet, all four customers love their Knight pianos and let me know how much better they sound after I have "tuned" them.

The piano has a strange almost human vibrato characteristic to it when it is in tune. Not offensive but not at all still, like we have learned to expect with no false beating strings and all the unisons clean.

All four of them are the late '60s.

Everything I read about Knight pianos says they are extraordinary. Sometimes even compared to Steinway (uprights).

What am I missing?

------------------------------
Geoff Sykes, RPT
Los Angeles CA
------------------------------

Original Message------

The gist of this is to ask, what am I missing?

I now have four customers with Knight upright pianos. Identical except for the lovely veneer. Identical, also, in that they all sound like garbage and are basically untuneable. All four of them have serious false beating strings from A0 through C8, yet the bridges all look perfect. Unisons are impossible. Yet, all four customers love their Knight pianos and let me know how much better they sound after I have "tuned" them. 

The piano has a strange almost human vibrato characteristic to it when it is in tune. Not offensive but not at all still, like we have learned to expect with no false beating strings and all the unisons clean. 

All four of them are the late '60s. 

Everything I read about Knight pianos says they are extraordinary. Sometimes even compared to Steinway (uprights).

What am I missing?

------------------------------
Geoff Sykes, RPT
Los Angeles CA
------------------------------