Hello all,

I have searched and couldn't find a thread that answered my question so I am posting it.

We are a dealer of new Yamaha pianos.

We used a new tuner for the first time to tune a DGC1 Mark IV in a customer's home. The piano was tuned once before it left the showroom.

The tuner arrived and told the customer that the pitch was so flat that it would take two sittings to raise the pitch and tune properly. Our normal in-house tuner never has to do this with new Yamahas.

We did not question the tuner on it and let him proceed.

We sold the piano with two in-home tunings.

Six months or so has passed and the same tuner went back to the customer's house and said the same thing - that the pitch would need to be raised again with two sittings.

Has anyone heard of this needing to be done?

Any help is appreciated!

We are also a Yamaha dealer and I have NEVER encountered this problem.

Good luck,
Chris

Hello iamburanto

I am not that 'up' with all my piano models - I know a Steinway D is a 9' and that a.......well, that's about it actually! So Im not familiar with DGC1 Mark IV. Is it an accoustic piano....or one of Yamaha's Disclaviers?
If it is a brand new piano, however, and does have to be tuned like a normal piano, then piano manufacturers advise(Yamaha included, I believe)that the instrument be tuned 4-5 times in the first year. This is the common understanding for techs...although, to be honest I take this as four SEPARATE tuning per year....never heard of it being done as two pitch raises in the first year.

Regards

Mark

Hi - Sorry for not giving more piano details. The DGC1 Mark IV is a Yamaha Disklavier. It is a 5' 3" acoustic grand with the Disklavier system.

There are different thresholds for technicians - what is a pitch raise to one, is just part of the everyday tuning process for another.

Maybe ask him how far off from pitch the piano was to start - and just how far it needs to be to trigger the pitch correction mode for him.

I don't know where you are, but it's been pretty dry indoors around here this winter - that would cause more of a drop than just "stretching strings".

It sounds a little odd to me.
Since your tuner is making the claim that the new piano is somehow unstable, I suggest contacting the manufacturer. If this is a problem with the tuner - you will be "calling his bluff" stating that new Yamahas do not historically drop pitch like this. Tell him that you are contacting them for a warranty investigation. They will probably send out another technician to check it out.
In the instance that indeed the tuner is right, you will still be contacting the appropriate people - because a brand new 5'3" shouldn't be "that bad".

check the plate for cracks. check the pin block fit to the plate, seems like a structure problem.

This tuners seems to think that the piano has to sit for a while after a pitch raise before fine tuning. Either that or he is unwilling to make the extra pass through the pins or hasn't the time in his schedule to finish the job in one sitting. Obviously a new piano is sagging and he should doing just rough passes with a quick touch up pass for the first year. Anything else is senseless. Of course it should be tuned five times in the first year but don't let this guy stack two full tuning charges on you.

I believe Yamaha Pianos receive several tunings before they leave the factory. All new ones I’ve tuned arrive slightly over pitch and drop right into A440 on the first pass. We normally do a follow up tuning after several months as part of the Service Bond check.

One similar piano to the one in question was sold in September, used to record a CD in December, and had it’s follow up tuning in January. The CD sounded great, it was in decent tune when I did the follow up.

For Disklavier, We normally send a factory trained Technician for the follow up tuning. After that, any experienced technician is welcome.

I tune new yamahas regularly- some pinblocks are so green, they take a while to stabilize. Some fresh-out-of-the-crate pianos come in at -30 cents. Some come in right on pitch.
The manager at our local authorized Yamaha dealer is committed to keeping them in tune on the floor, so when they are sold, there aren't any suprises.

I wouldn't recommend contacting the Manufacturer unless you can document an actual problem.

Yamaha's I have tuned recently from the dealer have been a bit flat.

Easily P/R'ed and tuned, one sitting.

Most piano's P/R'ed and tuned, one sitting, doesn't take long.

Occasionally there is the "problem" piano, some older piano full of false beats, weak pin block or way too much friction at the bearing points.

This piano will be brutal every time .... Still one tuning/sitting.

Yamaha's are a walk in the park to tune.

It could be a policy of his, talk to him about it.

Also, as politely as I can say it, check your tuners qualifications.

Since I still have one thing unclear, how often did the tech complain a yamaha like that? I think he has been working for you more than half year.

If this is the only case, problem should be the Yamaha.

This tech has only worked for us on the one piano I described. Our normal techs never have this problem with new Yamahas.

I see. Waiting for your final diagnoses.