"pin set", test blows, string segment tension balance: Reality Check?

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Kurt,
If you can not feel the pin move on ANY piano it may be the Hammer you are using!!!
For me there are still  some pianos that do not give me the real sense of when the pin moves.
Most often on ones that have been treated with either Garfields or Langford pin tightner.
Some of todays pianos are so tight when new,
 that the pin head seems to rotate 5 degrees before the bottom finally snaps forward.
Sometimes lowering the pitch the first pop seems to make the pin turn more like I would like it to.

There is a reason that older techs mention 1000 pianos as a plateau. Thats about 280,000 tuning pins that you have turned to learn the feel. And it is different from the bass to C8. At least for me. The upper treble is almost like you can only think the pop and setteling the pin confirms that it is. Get Ken Burtons 'Different Strokes'. It will give you a lot of ideas to try on different pianos.
Jerk Tuner
BTW what is the difference between a slow pull and a jerk when refering to tuning style? Answer below your post.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: kurt baxter 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 3:52 PM
  Subject: "pin set", test blows, string segment tension balance: Reality Check?


  I am looking for some clarity on the issue of settling a string/pin
  in order to hold a solid unison.

  When it comes to string stability, test blows, "pin set" technique,
  pin twisting, pin flagpolling etc...

  What do we actually KNOW about what is going on, and how do we know it?

  I hear techs with various (and often conflicting) personal stories and
  myths that seem to work for them, and often make intuitive sense on some
  level, but how do we separate verifiable reality from what seems to be
  simply "dogma" of the trade?

  What actual empirical evidence do we have, and how can that be applied
  to tuning hammer technique?

  ABOUT 5 SECONDS PER PIN





  [kurt]
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