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Bottom octave going flat very fast - Disklavier culprit?

2012-05-30 by ostimu

I have a Disklavier DC3M4, and it's a little under a year old.  I'm finding that it's not holding it tuning well at all, particularly in the bottom octave - up to around Bb1.  I'm wondering if this is because of the heat given off by the Disklavier hardware.  The main box gets awfully warm, which my tech insists is normal, but it's hard to imagine that it isn't the culprit.

Has anybody else had a similar issue?  I use the Disklavier almost daily, and then put it to sleep at night.  It doesn't cool off all that much when it's asleep, so I don't know if that makes any difference.  Should I just leave it on all the time?  Is mine getting hotter than normal?  (The top of the unit is hot to the touch, but not so hot that it burns your hand.)

I also have a Dampp-Chaser system installed, so I was really expecting the tuning to hold well.  My last tuning was 4 weeks ago, and the bottom range is pretty bad now.

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated!
-John

Re: [disklavier] Bottom octave going flat very fast - Disklavier culprit?

2012-05-30 by Carol Beigel

It would not be unusual to have a new piano tuned every few weeks - especially one that is played a lot. Just to give you two examples: my own new Yamaha piano was tuned 5 times between Labor day and Christmas the first year I had it. Also, when I am working in a recording studio, I tune the piano every hour and a half!! I will also note that most pianos I tune, I use a stretch 4 setting, but on a Yamaha I use stretch 3 because it is a cleaner tuning (i.e. there is little stretch in a Yamaha tuning). That said, you don't need a Disklavier tech to tune your piano, so if his/her tuning is not as stable as you want, try a different piano tuner. This is a piano issue and has nothing to do with the Disklavier. Any new piano used daily will have the same problem until it settles in.

Carol Beigel

Registered Piano Technician

On May 30, 2012, at 2:24 PM, ostimu wrote:

I have a Disklavier DC3M4, and it's a little under a year old. I'm finding that it's not holding it tuning well at all, particularly in the bottom octave - up to around Bb1. I'm wondering if this is because of the heat given off by the Disklavier hardware. The main box gets awfully warm, which my tech insists is normal, but it's hard to imagine that it isn't the culprit.

Has anybody else had a similar issue? I use the Disklavier almost daily, and then put it to sleep at night. It doesn't cool off all that much when it's asleep, so I don't know if that makes any difference. Should I just leave it on all the time? Is mine getting hotter than normal? (The top of the unit is hot to the touch, but not so hot that it burns your hand.)

I also have a Dampp-Chaser system installed, so I was really expecting the tuning to hold well. My last tuning was 4 weeks ago, and the bottom range is pretty bad now.

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated!
-John

Re: Bottom octave going flat very fast - Disklavier culprit?

2012-05-31 by ostimu

Thanks, Carol.  This makes me feel much better!  I bought one of those Peterson Stretch tuners, and I gave self-tuning a go not long ago, and I've since decided that tuning your own piano is about as good an idea as cutting your own hair.  :)
-John


--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Carol Beigel <carol@...> wrote:

Show quoted textHide quoted text

>
> It would not be unusual to have a new piano tuned every few weeks - especially one that is played a lot.  Just to give you two examples:  my own new Yamaha piano was tuned 5 times between Labor day and Christmas the first year I had it.  Also, when I am working in a recording studio, I tune the piano every hour and a half!!  I will also note that most pianos I tune, I use a stretch 4 setting, but on a Yamaha I use stretch 3 because it is a cleaner tuning (i.e. there is little stretch in a Yamaha tuning).  That said, you don't need a Disklavier tech to tune your piano, so if his/her tuning is not as stable as you want, try a different piano tuner.  This is a piano issue and has nothing to do with the Disklavier.  Any new piano used daily will have the same problem until it settles in.
> 
> Carol Beigel
> Registered Piano Technician
> 
> On May 30, 2012, at 2:24 PM, ostimu wrote:
> 
> > I have a Disklavier DC3M4, and it's a little under a year old. I'm finding that it's not holding it tuning well at all, particularly in the bottom octave - up to around Bb1. I'm wondering if this is because of the heat given off by the Disklavier hardware. The main box gets awfully warm, which my tech insists is normal, but it's hard to imagine that it isn't the culprit.
> > 
> > Has anybody else had a similar issue? I use the Disklavier almost daily, and then put it to sleep at night. It doesn't cool off all that much when it's asleep, so I don't know if that makes any difference. Should I just leave it on all the time? Is mine getting hotter than normal? (The top of the unit is hot to the touch, but not so hot that it burns your hand.)
> > 
> > I also have a Dampp-Chaser system installed, so I was really expecting the tuning to hold well. My last tuning was 4 weeks ago, and the bottom range is pretty bad now.
> > 
> > Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated!
> > -John
> > 
> >
>