(Started writing before Gary Bruce's post)
Thane -
With respect, I don't think that much of what's been discussed here would be of constructive use to the music coordinator. A number of points to clarify:
- As Rick Butler suggested, we're not clear on what model Boston is being referenced.
- Thane said:
- Pianos are tuned twice or once a year (early fall)
- The worst offender was 35 Cents sharp in August when I tuned it,(lots of humidity during summer) and last week was 20-30 cents flat.
- Data logger, showed no variation in temperature (72 degrees) over the course of 7 days, including weekend.
- The humidity swing was about 5% (17-22%) Did I mention I live in Wyoming :)
Glad to know about Wyoming, however mostly irrelevant for this situation.
For the most part, I think it's absurd to have discussion about tuning stability for institutional pianos that get tuned once or twice a year. Boston or any other. The expectation that any piano tuned in August (with lot's of humidity) should be even close to recognizable in 17-22% environment is completely unfounded. While Thane, to his credit, has a data logger, he doesn't mention any climate control measures (as Gary described).
I haven't seen to many Boston uprights recently, so I don't know if the particular issue that I felt was a factor (when i WAS tuning a number of them) is still active: The friction at the pressure bar was absolutely minimal, making stability an issue, even with superior hammer technique. There was no way that I could do a seasonal pitch correction without following up a few times.
There may, in fact, be other, specific structural issues that contribute to these pianos demonstrating wider fluctuations than others, but neither the skills of the tuner nor the inherent quality of the piano should be judged by such conditions.
A tangential concern about this discussion relates to the recent dust up about Steinway's moves to reassert control over their brand, and an expressed dismay at a perceived history of technicians going out of their way to trash it. While criticism may be valid, I think it's rather gratuitous to convey a precipitous conclusion to the buying public (including school administrators) that might affect the perception of any company's product. As it is, more often than not, most decisions like this are based primarily upon price.
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David Skolnik [RPT]
Hastings-on-Hudson NY
914-231-7565
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2019 10:02
From: Gary Bruce
Subject: Boston U111 Stability
I have serviced a dozen Boston UP118S pianos and a GP193 at an "all S&S" university since they were new, mostly 1999, a few a bit newer. They had typical wild fluctuation prior to the installation of DC Life saver systems. There is still the usual low in January higher in August pitch shift but not nearly as bad as before and mostly in the tenor range. Department secretary and work study students are trained to monitor systems. I always bring back to A440. HVAC systems are to blame for wild fluctuations and the client needs to know. Track the RH and Temp for a season and show the findings to the client. I find the Bostons fairly easy to tune and the blocks/pinning are (for the most part) solid. I also tune at a couple other universities and public schools and all models of pianos react about the same given the HVAC systems.
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Original Message------
Good information to have, as the school district is looking at purchasing replacement instruments for the 40-50 year old Hamiltons and Wurlitzers in other classrooms. Will pass this on to the music coordinator for the district. :)
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Thane Yennie - RPT
Cheyenne WY
307-871-8718
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