Piano tuning, can it be done by an amateur?

OilCityPickups · June 2016

My great uncle was a blind piano tuner!

10thumbs · June 2016

I've sometimes wondered if you can do this with a chromatic guitar tuner ?

Teetonetal · June 2016

Had a bizarre Piano based conversation with my wife last night

wife: Do we need to get a piano

me: what? why?

wife: well I always had one growing up, I remember Mum always getting some blind guy to come and tune it

me: can you play the piano then? Do you want to start again?

wife: no, generally it just sat there. I had a couple of lessons, I hated it.

me: er.

wife: but you can play?

me: er not really - I know how to play and had some lessons at uni, but I don't enjoy it.

wife: but it would be nice for the kids

me: but you hated it and I don't liek itt and you need it to be tuned etc

wife: why are you always so negative? I'd like to have one when we buy a house..

markslade07 · June 2016

EricTheWeary said:

When I was a kid we used to have our piano tuned regularly by a blind chap. No one ever really played the bloody thing, I think it was more my mother's idea of a charitable act to keep him in employment. Must be some still out there.

Only just catching up on this, but so did we, @erictheweary. I think you're in the Midlands and back then I lived in Walsall. Think the old blind guy was from Bloxwich, but I may be making that bit up.

Edit. Unless it's a prerequisite of being a piano tuner, and it's no coincidence at all!

EricTheWeary · June 2016

markslade07 said:

EricTheWeary said:

When I was a kid we used to have our piano tuned regularly by a blind chap. No one ever really played the bloody thing, I think it was more my mother's idea of a charitable act to keep him in employment. Must be some still out there.

Only just catching up on this, but so did we, @erictheweary. I think you're in the Midlands and back then I lived in Walsall. Think the old blind guy was from Bloxwich, but I may be making that bit up

I'll have to ask my mother what she can remember about him, at 88 her memory is keener than mine ( although as she has been going blind for the last few years so it may not be the easiest topic to broach). But obviously it was quite a common thing.

AliGorie · July 2016

WezV said:

My Granddad's brother was a blind piano tuner, it was his only career option at Blind school. My Granddad used to drive him around and do all the repairs in his van. And that is why i grew up loving the smell of hide glue

nice one Wez, I know what ya mean - re hide glue
My mother (who had a wonderful natural 'ear') taught herself to tune pianos armed with a tuning fork and a tuning key.

Emp_Fab · September 2016

http://www.tunelab-world.com/

DLM · September 2016

Teetonetal said:

Had a bizarre Piano based conversation with my wife last night

wife: Do we need to get a piano
me: what? why?
wife: well I always had one growing up, I remember Mum always getting some blind guy to come and tune it
me: can you play the piano then? Do you want to start again?
wife: no, generally it just sat there. I had a couple of lessons, I hated it.
me: er.
wife: but you can play?
me: er not really - I know how to play and had some lessons at uni, but I don't enjoy it.
wife: but it would be nice for the kids
me: but you hated it and I don't liek itt and you need it to be tuned etc
wife: why are you always so negative? I'd like to have one when we buy a house..

@Teetonetal Ha! Reminds me of the bookcases with classics people buy to give the impression that they are well-read.... Except the books never show any sign of wear....

We got our Joanna for nowt from a church clearing out its storage facility. It's a cheap, mass-produced East German one, with a dampener for making it quieter for playing in shitty GDR prefabs. The lever for activating the dampener has always reminded me of the choke on a Trabant! Accordingly, the thing is never in tune, even after we've had a man in. But @DLM's_Girl still prefers it over an electric, which reminds me of Scott Henderson's use of the traditional Strat bridge over more modern alternatives. He says he needs good tone more than to be in tune.

bingefeller · September 2016

A blind piano tuner is such an archetype.

bingefeller · September 2016

DLM said:

Teetonetal said:

Had a bizarre Piano based conversation with my wife last night

wife: Do we need to get a piano
me: what? why?
wife: well I always had one growing up, I remember Mum always getting some blind guy to come and tune it
me: can you play the piano then? Do you want to start again?
wife: no, generally it just sat there. I had a couple of lessons, I hated it.
me: er.
wife: but you can play?
me: er not really - I know how to play and had some lessons at uni, but I don't enjoy it.
wife: but it would be nice for the kids
me: but you hated it and I don't liek itt and you need it to be tuned etc
wife: why are you always so negative? I'd like to have one when we buy a house..

@Teetonetal Ha! Reminds me of the bookcases with classics people buy to give the impression that they are well-read.... Except the books never show any sign of wear....
We got our Joanna for nowt from a church clearing out its storage facility. It's a cheap, mass-produced East German one, with a dampener for making it quieter for playing in shitty GDR prefabs. The lever for activating the dampener has always reminded me of the choke on a Trabant! Accordingly, the thing is never in tune, even after we've had a man in. But @DLM's_Girl still prefers it over an electric, which reminds me of Scott Henderson's use of the traditional Strat bridge over more modern alternatives. He says he needs good tone more than to be in tune.

Scott uses a modified bridge with wider holders drilled out for the strings to pass through easier.

DLM · September 2016

@bingefeller Yes, but it's an original Fender part that he has modded, not a Wilkinson or anything.

bingefeller · September 2016

DLM said:

@bingefeller Yes, but it's an original Fender part that he has modded, not a Wilkinson or anything.

oh i see what you mean.

UnclePsychosis · September 2016

Mrs Psychosis owns a baby grand but I've long since given up hope of owning a house big enough to keep it in! Curse you Edinburgh house prices!!

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Piano tuning, can it be done by an amateur?

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