Members pogo97 Posted July 21, 2009 Members Share Posted July 21, 2009 It's a little bit confusing...I have had opinions of people feeling very confident about tuning their pianos, and other ones not so much. Do you feel happy with your acoustic piano, or after some time it gives you too much problem?. I have seen a lot of people getting rid of them. People get rid of their pianos most often because the kids have grown up and moved out and mumndad don't play. If you accept that tuning will be about a $100 to $200 a year commitment, you'll be fine. That's really not much in the great run of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted July 21, 2009 Members Share Posted July 21, 2009 When I was a kid I learned to tune my Rhodes piano by ear. I had a pretty good ear for pitch and intervals. Then I tried it on a piano at school and it was hopeless. I couldn't even get it back to original pitch. Rhodes has a strong fundamental so it's easy. Piano strings have so many inharmonics that you cannot tune by fundamentals. Self-training books and videos don't even begin to get you there. I leave piano tuning to the trained professional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members midi Posted July 21, 2009 Members Share Posted July 21, 2009 I hear Yamaha acoustics hold their tuning better than other brands, I'm in the desert and I only need mine tuned once a year. (Around October, after the rainy season but before the cold weather.) Cost is $60.00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keytarist Posted July 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2009 Ok, thanks a lot for the feedback, guys. I can't make my mind yet, between a digital or real piano...(if digital: Kawai Es-6, Roland Fp-4, Yamaha Cp-300 or anything with an accurate piano sound). If you have more opinions about tuning, please post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AfroRouge Posted July 22, 2009 Members Share Posted July 22, 2009 So the real conclusion is: piano tuners aren't paid nearly enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -groovatious- Posted July 22, 2009 Members Share Posted July 22, 2009 So the real conclusion is: piano tuners aren't paid nearly enough. +1 There are also many 'so called' tuners out there who do not do a good job. If you find a good one - stick with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frogmonkey Posted July 22, 2009 Members Share Posted July 22, 2009 Wait... not paid enough? Now I'm confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted July 22, 2009 Members Share Posted July 22, 2009 There are also many 'so called' tuners out there who do not do a good job. If you find a good one - stick with them. No kidding. I've got a wonderful tuner: willing to work on an old piano (the first tuner I called refused--only does modern pianos) and game to tune it to Werkmeister III temperament once he was clear I knew what I was asking for. Owen Greyling FTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gribs Posted July 22, 2009 Members Share Posted July 22, 2009 Unless you have experience or a pro tuner guiding you, it's extremely difficult to tune a piano, as there are many complicated problems. On a guitar, you have six strings to tune, then you're done. You don't have to tune each fret afterwards : all the semi-tones are already ready and in place. On a piano, you have to tune all the semi-tones. And this is the main problem. There are no fixed frets or shortcuts - you have to make sure everything is right. I hire a professional tuner / tech to take care of our piano. It is actually a husband and wife team, and the husband was one of the main people who worked on developing the piano-tuning software that runs on hand-held PDA's. I would never screw around with the internals of the piano. Tuning a guitar is not just about tuning the six strings with the pegs and then you are done. To get things really right you have to adjust the string length for each string. This is hard to accomplish in acoustic guitars, but you do see some acoustic guitars with bridges that have been adjusted slightly so that every two strings have a different length. I don't try to adjust this myself for fixed bridge acoustics. Most electric guitars have string length adjustment screws in the bridge. I use a Peterson virtual strobe tuner to make sure that the harmonics at the twelfth fret are in tune with the played note at the twelfth fret. I used to do this by ear when I was a kid and could not afford a tuner - you can hear it pretty easily in a guitar that is out of intonation seriously. Usually this adjustment needs to be done once for a particular string brand and gauge, but I always check it just in case - sometimes fine adjustments might be needed. For my mandolins, the bridge on each is just piece of wood that sits on the top near the stop that holds the strings. The position of the bridge can be adjusted in both distance from the stop and angle relative to the string direction. I use my Peterson virtual strobe (and ear - lets face it sometimes it is faster to home in by ear) to set the bridge position and angle (making some strings just slightly shorter and some longer) to get the best possible intonation. This is harder to do than the case where each string can have its length adjusted independently, but it is also very easy to hear the difference between "right" or "best possible" intonation (sounds good) and "wrong" intonation (sounds like {censored}). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keytarist Posted July 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2009 How bad a piano goes out of tune after the last technical service six months a go?. I have been looking for used pianos in very good shape after the remanufacturing process. I was told that new pianos may have manufacture problems that appear after some years, so pianos with some years on them, show you what you're really going to get, without any major changes later. The brands are Rippen, Malmsj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted July 23, 2009 Members Share Posted July 23, 2009 Do you have Kijiji or Craigs List or equivalent? You'll often see pianos for very little or free and often the price is unrelated to the quality of the instrument because the sellers didn't buy it and don't care--they just want it out of the house. That's how we got our piano and, though it's not a Steinway, it's a wonderful instrument and very rewarding to play. Best $400 I ever spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keytarist Posted July 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2009 Good idea, but...I may finally buy a cheap instrument, but with irreversible damage. I'm not an expert so I couldn't notice if the instrument would need a complete replacement for mechanical parts, hammers, a setting in the key action, etc. I would go for it if it's really cheap or absolutely free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted July 23, 2009 Members Share Posted July 23, 2009 You need to do your research but, as you said, an old instrument flaunts its flaws. If it sounds good (though probably out-of-tune) it probably is good. You do, though, need to budget moving unless you have a bunch of strong obedient buddies and a truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keytarist Posted July 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2009 Do you have Kijiji or Craigs List or equivalent? You'll often see pianos for very little or free and often the price is unrelated to the quality of the instrument because the sellers didn't buy it and don't care--they just want it out of the house. That's how we got our piano and, though it's not a Steinway, it's a wonderful instrument and very rewarding to play. Best $400 I ever spent. Actually, the price isn't the main concern. I know that nowadays things aren't easy, 'cos of the economic crisis, you know. But since I don't buy musical instruments every day, for this opportunity I'll go for the best option. I don't want to bother reviving this thread, I just want to know how bad a piano goes out of tune after the last technical service six months a go (playable or unplayable?)...please, thanks a lot!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cydonia Posted July 24, 2009 Members Share Posted July 24, 2009 It's actually impossible to know before you have the instrument. Too many variables : - Quality of the piano and components (peg block, strings, etc.) - Used or new (a brand new piano needs a number of tunings before all the strings sit and stabilize). - Humidity fluctuations in the piano's new home. - The more and harsher you play, the faster the strings can go out of tune. - Dampp-Chaser equipped or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keytarist Posted July 24, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 24, 2009 I'm going for a used piano, with good quality (I wouldn't say 'best quality' though), I wouldn't play too much as a professional player (I'm a composer) and I'm looking forward for a good dehumidifier. The climate in Santiago de Chile isn't stable through the year, we have a cold winter (temperatures sometimes droping to 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cydonia Posted July 24, 2009 Members Share Posted July 24, 2009 What you could do is to buy yourself one of those electronic moisture meter for $12 and see what's the humidity level right now in your basement or future piano room. With a dehumidifier and keeping the piano far heat sources in the winter, you might be able to keep it in the ideal humidity range. Then, the piano stays in tune better since the critical wooden parts won't shrink/expand as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cydonia Posted July 24, 2009 Members Share Posted July 24, 2009 Here's what happens to the strings with different humidity levels : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted July 24, 2009 Members Share Posted July 24, 2009 My tuner recommends tuning just after the furnace becomes necessary in the fall and/or just after you stop needing the furnace in the spring. Seems to work pretty well. I get my piano tuned once a year; twice would be better but not $100 better. Untuned pianos can stay playable for many years, they just sound progressively worse and may take a second (or third?) tuning to get them stable enough to hold their tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keytarist Posted July 24, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 24, 2009 Thank you my friends!. Ok, lets see if I can get one of these Piano Life Saver System here in Chile after the humidity check. I'll keep in mind that tip about the furnace also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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