Re:For More Pianos, Last Note Is Thud in the Dump
by Terretta on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @01:09PM
(#4318376)
> A piano that has not been regularly tuned will lose its ability to stay tuned
Having tuned pianos for about six years, I think this is a misconception. An piano left untuned for many years will certainly lose its ability to be retuned in a single tuning. Owners who try to bring it back into tune with a single tuning will fail, and think it can't be retuned. That's completely normal. What's more, retuning it correctly (evenly distributed tension) may be beyond the casual neighborhood tuner. But the absolute inability to be retuned is rare.
On the other hand, if the strings need replacing (sound dead, tinny, or thin, after as many as 50 years for good strings or as few as 10 for poor ones) or the tuning pins don't hold (long term lack of climate control), the piano probably needs restringing, which is labor and skill intensive and maybe not worth the time and money (from one to several grand) compared to purchasing a new piano (Costco has surprisingly good prices!) unless it has sentimental or collector value. But if you don't mind the expense, even with bad strings and tuning pins, the piano can be fixed and tuned.
Provided the tuning pins hold and the strings aren't ruined, a piano can generally be retuned in a patient series of 3 - 5 tuning sessions to gradually (with ample settling time between sessions) bring the whole (strings, soundboard, plate, bridges) back into well balanced tension.
Having tuned pianos for about six years, I think this is a misconception. An piano left untuned for many years will certainly lose its ability to be retuned in a single tuning. Owners who try to bring it back into tune with a single tuning will fail, and think it can't be retuned. That's completely normal. What's more, retuning it correctly (evenly distributed tension) may be beyond the casual neighborhood tuner. But the absolute inability to be retuned is rare.
On the other hand, if the strings need replacing (sound dead, tinny, or thin, after as many as 50 years for good strings or as few as 10 for poor ones) or the tuning pins don't hold (long term lack of climate control), the piano probably needs restringing, which is labor and skill intensive and maybe not worth the time and money (from one to several grand) compared to purchasing a new piano (Costco has surprisingly good prices!) unless it has sentimental or collector value. But if you don't mind the expense, even with bad strings and tuning pins, the piano can be fixed and tuned.
Provided the tuning pins hold and the strings aren't ruined, a piano can generally be retuned in a patient series of 3 - 5 tuning sessions to gradually (with ample settling time between sessions) bring the whole (strings, soundboard, plate, bridges) back into well balanced tension.