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moving a piano...tuning question

akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
edited October 2007 in Strut Central
ok, so i got this small upright piano at goodwill a LONG time ago, and a friend of my dad's has offered to help me tune it next time im in town (the piano is at my parents house)...anyway, im just wondering, if i get it perfectly in tune, but then move it 120 miles to my apartment, is it most likely just going to fall out of tune again? i dont mean a minor thing, im saying is a big move just going to fuck it up so bad that its gonna need a complete retuning again when i get it up here? if so i might just leave it there, but still tune it.

  Comments

  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    yes, it will need a retuning - or, at least a tweaking, which will still = a $70 housecall by a tuner.

    i have an upright that came from my grandma (RIP) a few years back, ive had to have it tuned 4 times since it arrived at my place. after a few months, certain keys stray. granted, she never had it tuned since like 1978, so its especially bad.
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    ouch, thats like 3 times what i paid for it.

    maybe ill just leave it there. people put up ads for free uprights on craigslist all the time.
  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Are you going to use it for music production or for Chopin recitals? If the former, you don't have anything to worry about with an out of tune peeeanny. It will probably make it sound better, IMO.
  • GambleGamble 844 Posts
    ouch, thats like 3 times what i paid for it.

    maybe ill just leave it there. people put up ads for free uprights on craigslist all the time.

    yeah, but after you bring it home, your gonna have to tune that one...

    Pianos are tempermental little bitches. they are tge chris crockers of the instrument world. They need to be coddled.
  • drewnicedrewnice 5,465 Posts
    The used bookstore downstairs in the same building where I work has one of these sitting in front of the counter:



    I want to gig on it so badly, but he wants highest offer and claims that someone told him $600 for it. Waaay too much, IMO, for something I've heard is very hard to keep in tune. Anyone had experience with Electric Wurlys?
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    The used bookstore downstairs in the same building where I work has one of these sitting in front of the counter:



    I want to gig on it so badly, but he wants highest offer and claims that someone told him $600 for it. Waaay too much, IMO, for something I've heard is very hard to keep in tune. Anyone had experience with Electric Wurlys?

    these dont really drop out of tune as much as a normal piano because they are metal tines cut to specific lengths instead of adjustable strings. the only keys that were ever out of tune on my wurly were a few of the very very high ones, there were two next to each other that were the same note, and im not sure why.

    have you played around on it? if its in tune now, it most likely will be when you get it home, not sure id student models like this one are the same as normal 200s, but they were designed to be semi-portable.


    these days $600 is not a bad price for a wurlitzer. my friend sold one that was modified with a non-original power cord and none of the accessories, not even the original legs, for around $900. if it completely works, 600 is pretty low, but this is coming from a guy who got his for $5.
  • GambleGamble 844 Posts
    The used bookstore downstairs in the same building where I work has one of these sitting in front of the counter:



    I want to gig on it so badly, but he wants highest offer and claims that someone told him $600 for it. Waaay too much, IMO, for something I've heard is very hard to keep in tune. Anyone had experience with Electric Wurlys?

    Yeah, these dont really have such a problem staying in tune. You could lug that around on a tour bus and the thing would stay true. they problem though - if it does go out of tune, you need to WELD MORE METAL ONTO THE FUCKIN TINES. and its essentially guesswork - adding and romoving hot metal until you get it right. NAGL.

    600 aint a bad price really.
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    The used bookstore downstairs in the same building where I work has one of these sitting in front of the counter:



    I want to gig on it so badly, but he wants highest offer and claims that someone told him $600 for it. Waaay too much, IMO, for something I've heard is very hard to keep in tune. Anyone had experience with Electric Wurlys?

    Yeah, these dont really have such a problem staying in tune. You could lug that around on a tour bus and the thing would stay true. they problem though - if it does go out of tune, you need to WELD MORE METAL ONTO THE FUCKIN TINES. and its essentially guesswork - adding and romoving hot metal until you get it right. NAGL.

    600 aint a bad price really.

    buying new tines and shaving them off sounds easier than welding metal back on....and also more staright-forward process than tuning a traditional piano. but regardless, yeah, a bitch.

    somebody in my hometown found something like 12 student models some school was getting rid of. i was jealous.
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