U3 won't hold pitch

Raph · Post by **Raph** » 24 Dec 2006, 17:35

I've got a U3 that seems unable to hold pitch.

The deal in buying the piano included the first tuning after 3 months; this didn't result in the piano actually being in tune... so I got the guy round again - when he finished the piano was roughly, vaguely, well, sort of approximately in tune, with a couple of notes really not that great, but I thought if he didn't manage it the second time then there wasn't any point persisting and I'd just get someone else.

Never got round to it and now a few months later it's quite bad again, as in - playable but definitely not good enough to record, plus I've shifted it to the opposite side of the room and despite this being a smooth move with no bumps, it's now gone very funky again.

The room's quite dry - could this cause pins to slip?

PS there's a c.h. radiator in the room, not near the piano, and it's only slightly on and the room never gets hot. But I know from how other instruments behave that the humidity is low in that room throughout the winter.

PPS it's the lower register that suffers most - 8ve below middleC and downwards.

Any ideas anyone?

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 24 Dec 2006, 18:38

I take it we are taking second-hand U3 some of the older one just don’t hack it in dry rooms However, the shop who sold it should have been aware of the pins being border line and repined or restrung Has the tuner commented on the tuning pins

You say the lower register suffers the most, this normally tells us that the piano is in a room that shifts quite a lot in humidity or it could be that that end of the tuning plank has dried out and the pins are not holding the tuning

However, it can take up to a year for some pianos to settle down. I have clients who living rooms swing from 34% to 71% humidity and they are a sod to keep in tune for any length of time

If you feel it may be the piano then you need to get in a different tuner to evaluate the piano did you make the shop aware of this problem

Barrie,

Raph · Post by **Raph** » 24 Dec 2006, 19:11

Hi, thanks for the reply.

"second-hand U3" - Yes, the piano's from about 1980, I don't know if that classes it as "old". The tuner didn't mention anything about pins, or express any difficulty about tuning it - just seemed surpised that it was out of tune so soon after he'd tuned it. I only slightly suspected him because the second time he tuned it it wasn't quite in tune when he finished - there were lower octaves still not quite there.

The shop will have been aware because they had to pay the tuner twice since it was their deal that included tuning the piano for the first time, but I wasn't going to pay twice when the first time it wasn't properly tuned. Turns out it wasn't properly tuned the second time either. It's now far too late to moan to the shop about it, but I had to let the instrument settle.

The humidity doesn't vary much from a day or week to the next, but it does vary a lot between summer and winter, I think mainly due to central heating. Humidifying the room in winter would be a good thing for other instruments that also get into a sulk throughout the winter, most notably my d/bass. First thing I think I'll do is get a hygrometer so I know what the humidity actually is - then see about humidifying the room (any ideas on that would be welcome).

Are there any easy ways of establishing whether the pins are too loose?

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 24 Dec 2006, 20:00

Raph wrote:
The humidity doesn't vary much from a day or week to the next, but it does vary a lot between summer and winter, I think mainly due to central heating. Humidifying the room in winter would be a good thing for other instruments that also get into a sulk throughout the winter, most notably my d/bass. First thing I think I'll do is get a hygrometer so I know what the humidity actually is - then see about humidifying the room (any ideas on that would be welcome).

Are there any easy ways of establishing whether the pins are too loose?

The only way to test the pins is get a new tuner in - as to humidity if the piano is in your living room, the humidity can swing quit a bit on a daily basis’s if the room is smallish with a few bods in there

It may be just that the tuners tuning are not very stable

Barrie,

Raph · Post by **Raph** » 24 Dec 2006, 21:48

The room's small but it's a dedicated music room, windows are rarely open even in summer to spare the neighbours cos I'm mostly in there to practise, and it's a dead end i.e. it's not a room you go through to get anywhere else - in short, there are no drafts and the humidity really only changes significantly between winter and summer.

I'll look up a local tuner and get some opinions - thanks for the comments meanwhile.

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 28 Dec 2006, 00:42

What's the serial number and where'd you buy it?

Raph · Post by **Raph** » 28 Dec 2006, 01:06

H3105517

Pianoforte, Faringdon

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 29 Dec 2006, 08:17

The age checks out with that serial.

Get your regular tuner to tune it and see if it's OK.

Raph · Post by **Raph** » 29 Dec 2006, 12:16

The tuner recommended by the shop hasn't mentioned there's any problem with drying out or loose pins, so either he doesn't know enough to spot that kind of problem, or there isn't a problem and he's just not tuning it too well. Either way, he's now tuned it twice and it's still not in tune, so I'm inclined to try someone else.

PS I'm near Banbury, Oxon - any recommendations for a tuner would be welcome.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 29 Dec 2006, 14:36

This guy is very good but he many not cover your area
but he will tell you who are the good ones

Mr. F. De Vere Steven
Tel 01865 775995
Mobile 07778644116

Tuners can be economical with the truth when they are tuning pianos from shops they get a lot of work form

Barrei,

Raph · Post by **Raph** » 29 Dec 2006, 18:34

I'll give him a ring - thanks!

R