Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum My new Yamaha YUS5 sounds worse after tuning?

I've just had a similar experience. Fourth tuning in less than four months on a rebuilt, hence restrung, hence still stretching, piano. Same tuner each time, but now I find most of the notes (especially in the tenor) giving off a high-frequency 'ring'/'buzz' when allowed to ring out. The only thing I can think is that this is a matter of the unisons slowly going, so I am now getting the 'beats' playing themselves out. Prior to the tuning, the whole piano had gone flat and many notes were wonky, but somehow sounding better than this high-pitched ringing on. Mind you, this hasn't happened before--all other tunings left the piano sweet--so, like you, I'm somewhat at a loss.

There are many talented and skilled tuners working in the Bay Area. There are also many UN-talented and UN-skilled tuners who will take your money working down there, too. Basing the decision on who tunes your piano on 'who's cheaper?' will net you what you pay for. Oh dear.

Suggest you contact the local Yamaha dealers and ask for a suggestion on a tuner. They should offer you people that know their business....as they rely on people to do things right for them, too! They aren't going to suggest people that do poor work, as that would make them look bad, too. See? At a minimum; use an RPT from the PTG website. I know David Love, Israel Stein, Frank French, and others work down there...and are outstanding technicians.

I am worried that the tuner who took 5-hrs., using an innacurate and dated machine (Petereson), did not do a good job, and may have also 'brightened' the piano by filing the hammers, or adding a hardener, to make the piano sound louder and brighter. But, perhaps slightly out-of-tune unisons and octaves are to blame for the sudden change. Let's hope so!

You have a great piano. Use a good tuner. I have several YU's in my customer file. After a year, they settle in nicely, stay in tune, and sound very nice indeed. Good instruments.

Enjoy!

Hi Nilla Bean:

First, congratulations on your new piano! It is going to bring you years of enjoyment.

New pianos need time to settle in. Usually, dealer preparation takes care of a lot of little "ills" that are standard with new pianos, but since you opted to have the piano delivered in the box, it is understandable that the process normally done "behind the scenes" is now playing out in your living room. DON'T WORRY. It will settle in and the tuning will stabilize.

That being said, the last few weeks in the Bay Area have been rather wild with vast humidity and temperature changes. Even in my showroom, with humidity control, we are noticing problems with tuning stability on some of our most expensive uprights in the last few days.

If I were you, I would call Music Exchange ( the dealer you purchased from) and ask them to have a technician check out the piano again. They are a very reputable dealer and I am sure they will send someone to examine the instrument.

As to the "two hour tuning:" Are you sure there wasn't a "pitch raise" involved? Sometimes, a tuner has to go through a piano more than once to get to the desired pitch and this involves more work than a simple tuning. Nobody can second guess the tuner or what he/she found when examining your piano. But if the technician was a PTG RPT Craftsman, you can be sure that the work done was necessary. That is why we always recommend checking the credentials of the technician.

Again, Congratulations. If I can be of any help to you, just give me a call.

What a classy post.

What a classy post.

"...Would it be obvious if the hammers had been hardened or altered in anyway? I wonder if I'd be able to just look myself..."

Call the tuner who last worked on it, and ask. Your new tech may be able to tell you if the hammers have been lacquered, or needled in any special way. This takes an experienced eye. I think your best interest would be served by trying to get a tech you can trust to take up the servicing, rather than by trying to find it out for yourself. It would be very unusual for a tech to lacquer the hammers on a brand-new piano.

"...But again, I seriously doubt he did that--but you guys got me more worried now! I wasn't real happy with the music store I bought the piano from, and frankly I don't want their recommendations. I already used their in-house tuner and wasn't too impressed. (though he was certainly better than this last guy). I love my piano! And I want it to sound amazing! (Especially considering the large payments--interest free at least--I have to make on it each month..."

If you're happy with Russell's advice, nilla, then you should stick with it. However, the dealer who sold you the piano should see to it that it's in good playing condition when it's delivered. I can't make out if you dispensed with dealer prep in order to get a lower price for an in-box piano, but if that's the case, the technician's work on it will come out of your own pocket (other than the included free tunings). The waters are also muddied by having a tech who was hired by you, and not the store, to do the second tuning. If they have to undo an unsatisfactory service call, they may feel that you should pay for fixing it yourself. So it could take some negotiating and coaxing.

"...he sounded like he could finesse my piano back to a sweeter sound, but that I should play on it heavily for a few weeks before he comes. He said we could even do a bit of voicing if I feel thats what it needs...."

As for voicing a new piano, whose sound you were happy with before it was "worked on" by the last tuner, be patient for a little while. It is prudent to put any voicing off, until the intonation is at least stabilized in your piano's new home. When it can hold a tuning, and after it has gotten accustomed to your touch and playing style--- and after you've 'tuned' the room, meaning that you've adjusted piano's position in the room, and adjusted the furnishings so you get the best sound out of it where it is--- then it may be time to think about doing some voicing, very gingerly and gradually.

New pianos take several years to fully settle, and for the hammers to mature. It's best to give them at least four tunings a year for the first year or two, then ramp down to no less than two tunings a year. This investment will help the piano to become more stable for the future, and far more rewarding for the immediate present.

The action should have been in good regulation when you got it, but as it's played-in it may need adjustments after six months or a year to keep the action even. The felts and wood parts change with the time and environmental conditions, even as the strings do. Playing it, in the way you usually would do--- and a good bit of it--- is good. Pounding away, not so much. I don't think that's what he meant.

If you bought a new piano, with a manufacturers' warranty, from an authorized dealer, then you should realize that this dealer acts as the manufacturer's agent for new-piano service (usually minor adjustments and a few tunings). They will have the same role if it turns out you need warranty service, in case of some manufacturing problem (unusual, but not unheard-of). So, it's in your interest to try to have a decent and cordial relationship with the dealer. Sometimes they don't send out a first-string player to do that first tuning, but if you're dissatisfied, realize that they want the customers to be happy, and let them have a chance before you write them off. That is why these stores have a manager, and you can call them and ask to speak to him or her.

What you're describing doesn't sound like a serious problem that needs warranty service (and Russell is right about the recent weather conditions--- it does make a difference), but rather, a tuning and settling-in issue. It helps a lot to keep these things in proportion.

"... I love my piano! And I want it to sound amazing!..."

I don't think you'll find a soul here who will give you an argument about this. This is what we all want! I think you're pretty much on the right track to make it happen. You paid good money for a good instrument, you're trying to find a good tech to care for it and bring out its best, and you're asking questions. That's how you do it. Good luck to you.

It is not likely that someone came in and hardened the hammers, as that would take too much time, although there are plenty of people who can mess up a piano really quickly, and four hours with a strobe tuner is not a good sign. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say what the situation is with your piano. Words are not adequate to describe what happened, because there is not enough agreement about what the words we use to describe sound actually mean.