OT v-e-r-y, to the piano players

Call a couple of local churches and the local school music teacher and ask who they use. You generally want references for your piano tuner just like you do your doctor.

So far as I know the only advances that have been made are that some few Tuners use electronic tuners now instead of matching by ear to a tuning fork.

NightMist

I would go first to the Steinway company representatives in the US. They will probably have a list of tuners they can recommend in every area. That's what I did with mine. The cost might be more, but it is worth it. Last time I had mine tuned the method used was exactly the same as with my first piano when I was 5! The last time for mine was 12 years ago - just before she was re-homed. . In message , Polly Esther writes

I would recommend you try Steinway first -- and see if they can help. If not -- maybe a store nearby that sells higher end pianos (grands... baby grands....) ... not your typical mall music store.

If that doesn't help -- maybe call the Music School at Ole Miss... I'm sure they have dozens of pianos... and somebody has to take care of them!

I also have a very old, wonderful, lovely Steinway piano. I know EXACTLY how you are feeling. I say good on you for wanting to get 'er tuned up. And you are totally asking the right questions. I would do one of these two things.

1. Make sure the tuner you use is a registered member of the piano technician's quild.

1. Look up Steinway dealers and ask who they use for their Steinways. I used a Steinway technician for years, and was so, so glad I did. No one will take care of your Steinway like a Steinway technician.

Karen, Queen of Squishies nothing sews like a Bernina nothing play like a Steinway grin

Get a recommendation from a friend. I called a very reputable dealer here that sells Mason & Hamlins (my piano of choice) and I really, really disliked the tuner they recommended. I looked up the Piano Technician's Guild website locally and called up another guy, whom I absolutely love. I've recommended him to friends, who love him as well. One of these days, I'm going to get him to rebuild my piano - he already rebuilt my friend's piano, to great results.

It may take you a couple of tunings to find someone you like. If one person doesn't do a great job, your piano will not suffer for it, so don't think you have to hit a home run the first time you get a tuning.

-- Anita --

Well, you see, Anita, I'm not confident that this is certain - Anita wrote > If one person doesn't do a great job, your piano will not suffer for it, so don't think you have to hit a home run the first time you get a tuning.>

My piano's had a very active life but she's not a kid anymore and I'm concerned that a tuner could actually do some damage. Polly

Polly, I agree, if you overtighten it can pull the whole frame supporting the strings out of wack and there are plenty of reasonable pianos around where it's not actually possible to get a perfect pitch of every single note without doing damage and a good tuner knows how to get the best out of it and also leave it such that it won't go out of tune ridiculously fast. Cheers Anne

The cast iron plate that supports the sound board will support sufficient force even if the strings are tightened a bit too much. The strings cannot be tightened so much that it causes any kind of change to the sound board, because if one was tightened too much, it would break. I've broken strings before because I pulled them too tight.

If your piano has been left alone too long, any reputable tuner will tune it in a couple of sessions, not bring it up to pitch in one sitting. You cannot really damage a piano by pulling every string a few cents too sharp. A will be around 440 Hz, even if your tuner was deaf and A is tuned to 445 or 450 Hz, it will not hurt the pinblock.

If your piano has been sitting anywhere near a heating or cooling vent, an outside wall, or gets exposed to any sunlight or any changes in humidity at all, it has already been subject to more stresses than one tuning will create.

I've owned old crap, bad piano-shaped objects, rebuilt a piano, tuned falling-apart uprights and consoles and grands, and now have a fine 100-year-old Mason & Hamlin that is my treasure. Just tell the tuner to be gentle and bring up to pitch in two sessions and your piano will be good to go.

-- Anita --

Just for random information, the speed at which a piano goes out of tune has more to do with humidity changes in its environment than the intrinsic quality of the piano. Of course, if the pinblock is old and the pins have been turned so often that it is now time to use the next size up pins, then yes, the piano will go out of tune quickly, but that is something the tuner cannot control (without replacing all the pins).

Concert halls tune their pianos before every performance. I try to tune my piano 4x a year, and that's not enough for me. I hear pitch changes depending on the time of day!

-- Anita --

another bit of music trivia:

To check how close to true an instument that will play an A 440 is tuned in North America, compare it to a dial tone. The dial tone must be standarized to be compatible on an automatic system, and the standard is A 440.

NightMist

I always recommend the same thing to my students, based on my experience. If you want to get the best price, go to the yellow pages under pianos - tuning. There are usually 2 type of ads - The tuner with the big ad that lists the colleges that he tunes for is usually the most expensive. The smaller, single line listings are invariably the lesser educated (as in a junior college or online degree) and is less expensive. If you want to be assured of the best tuning job, spend more on the guy who works for colleges.

My first tuner was a pricey one who tuned for the local college. When he retired, I went with the guy who was more affordable (I have 2 pianos that need to be tuned to sound good together) and this guy could never get them both to match. I finally went back to the yellow pages and found the man who was tuning for 2 universities - he's now my guy.

Musicmaker

Wow. I am amazed and delighted. This group knows so much and is so gracious to take the time to share. Warm thanks to you all for keeping me out of trouble. I was pretty sure picking up the phone and calling just anybody could be like roulette. Thank you, thank you. Polly

Ahhhhh....another proponent of the dial tone. I used to tell guitar students they could tune the "A" string to their dial tone if they needed it in a situation where a tuning fork or tuner wasn't available..

Naturally . . . just because that's how I am, I carried the phone to the piano to see if dial tone = A. It does not. It = F. So. Therefore. Either the piano needs tuning or I need to call the phone company. Polly

"Carolyn McCarty" Ahhhhh....another proponent of the dial tone. I used to tell guitar