<Don't question yourself.
Really? If one cannot question oneself, at any level of expertise, what learning can possibly arise from a challenge? Certificates are nothing but a beginning.
Hard to tune pianos have a huge amount to teach any one of us, except those who have decided not to learn anything new, or those who are too fearful to admit there is still much to learn. Actually, hard to tune pianos accentuate the normal challenges of reading tensions to such a degree, that they offer huge amounts of highly useful data, hard to find anywhere else. However they only offer that data to those who choose to observe without judgement...as they say, "life-long apprentice".
On a piano and tuning where all the unisons have failed, the chances are very good that physical constraints presented by the layout of the friction points, and corrosion of the wire/bearing surfaces, or pin torque, while previously having presented only a reasonable challenge, have reached a point of extreme tuning difficulty. My own experience with RH issues, versus segment equalization issues, is that on RH challenged pianos, unisons tend to hold, sometimes surprisingly well, while global movement is more pronounced. On the other hand, when every unison is out, as Benjamin mentioned in the op, it is often a clear sign that tensions in the SL and front segment were not able to be equalized with precision, by the tuner, on that particular piano. And this is not impugning Benjamin's skills either, its just a physical impediment to be aware of. If one is aware of the impediment, one has a much greater chance of learning from the beast, and beating it at its own game.
Another way to approach a tuning like this, is to use a high resolution visual program, like Only Pure...others may work too, but Only Pure is what I use. Actually tune the 3 strings of the unisons to the display, observing how your just set individual string, is suggesting very very small latent indications that it intends on moving and is not in a state of equilibrium. This is slow, but lets you observe with precision what will most likely happen, probably within next half hour. I also suggest, again as a learning device, to tune the sucker again, then go back in two days, as inaccurately equalized tensions will rear their ugly heads in a brutally short time span, making it clear whether the piano allowed you to read its tensions or not.
If you have tuned the unisons visually, assuming the piano is not too recalcitrant, you can then sweeten up the unison by ear, since you know your tensions are very close. In really hard to tune pianos, I would accept the ETD's unison and move on, as tweaking just degrades the stability.
------------------------------
Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 11-17-2019 11:47
From: Larry Messerly
Subject: Boston Grand Instability
So Benjamin, you're an RPT and a good tuner. Don't question yourself. Something else is causing the problem.
------------------------------
Larry Messerly, RPT
Bringing Harmony to Homes
www.lacrossepianotuning.com
ljmesserly@gmail.com
928-899-7292
Original Message:
Sent: 11-17-2019 11:27
From: David Love
Subject: Boston Grand Instability
So if I understand correctly the timeline is that the piano was tuned, you discovered then that the DC was plugged into the wrong outlet, you changed that and retuned, the piano went out of tune, you tuned again and then just recently the piano was out of tune again. Are you in California?
I'm not convinced yet that the fault isn't the DC combined with some climate anomalies. Two weeks ago we had some very dry weather throughout California where the humidity dropped in the low 20% (or perhaps lower in SoCal. Since the DC is calibrated at 42%, even with that on (assuming no humidification system) and functioning the piano would go out of tune (as many of the pianos I take care of with dehumidification systems did).
It's not likely that the entire piano would drift out of tune due to poor rendering. That might affect some notes but not everything.
What should have happened once you discovered the DC was in the wrong outlet was to move it to the correct outlet, wait 4 weeks and then tune the piano. Even then, had the piano been stable at that point, the recent very low humidity would have knocked the piano out anyway. As the climate has now stabilized back to what is more normal I would simply wait a couple of weeks and then tune the piano again before I engaged in any major surgery, restringing or anything else. The Bostons I service (basically like a Kawai) I have not found to have structural issues that would contribute to the problem.
How you handle "who pays" is a separate question.
------------------------------
David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2019 17:20
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: Boston Grand Instability
Hello all,
Here's the situation: I have a client with a 6' Boston grand from 1996. He moved to the area about a year ago, and first had me tune for him about 6-7 months ago. About two months ago he had a technician friend come out a tune the piano. My client then proceeded to install a Dampp-Chaser himself. Shortly afterwards the piano went drastically out of tune.
I came out and tuned the piano. Good thing I checked the D-C, because he had plugged the humidifier into the triple outlet with the dehumidifiers. I corrected the issue, and told him the system is now working properly, and the piano should be fine after it settles in, which could take a few weeks.
22 days later he called again, saying the piano was horribly out of tune again. After a discussion of whether I was hitting the piano hard enough while tuning, I managed to convince him that this is part of the settling-in timeframe that Dampp-Chaser says may happen. (I was able to confirm this with my local chapter at our last meeting.) And yes, nearly all the unisons were out, and the piano averaged about 8< flat.
He contacted me today (also 22 days after the last tuning), saying the piano is horribly out of tune again. We've set up an appointment on Monday to try and find out what's going on.
I'm beginning to think that this issue goes deeper than just the tuning. I'm willing to acknowledge that this could still be part of that settling-in time for the Dampp-Chaser. However, I'm also open to check out other options on Monday.
More info: the pin block feels tight, and I did not observe any hairline cracks in the bridges. No cracks in the soundboard that I saw. I tightened the plate screws, which were very slightly loose.
My question for you all is, what are some things that could cause this? I'll do my best to answer any questions regarding this situation.
Thank you in advance,
------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(805) 315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.com
------------------------------