CAUT

I've always been pretty efficient, especially when it comes to the practice room row grind. Recently in another thread in pianotech, Fred Sturm shared his method of pitch raising/fine tune that I've been trying.

If I get it right, it goes something like this: Using the established app protocol (there are a few different approaches) I tune the right string quickly and roughly to the target. Aurally rough tune the middle to the right. Now zero in on the overpull target with the left - the other two strings should be very close so your display should be more stable. Finally aurally check/tune the middle to the left and then check/tune the right to the other two open strings. The quicker the first two are tuned, the more there might be to touch up when going back over.

Realizing that there will likely be some shifting or missed areas, this method seems to leave better unisons with the back and forth check/tuning of the middle and right string. I found the piano very playable - while not a "fine tuning" exactly, this shows more promise than a quick pass and then a check/tuning pass. Without much practice, I came in just under 30 minutes for a seasonal adjustment.

I'm using PiaTune which pre-measures all notes, then establishes a trendline for overpull calculation. It can also calculate without the pre-measure, (similar to Verituner) but then the trendline idea is lost and it doesn't have the trailing average that RCT uses. I've found that the percentage to use for overpull depends mostly on the specific hammer technique used by each technician. Test and adjust!

Ron Koval