[Brumtuner]

Whilst doing the trichords, even when laying the scale, I always tune the right hand string first because I tend to find that they are purer in tone than the left hand string. Oddly enough, I found out that my old man used to do the same too!

So...... why are the (usually) left hand strings falser than the right hand strings?

[Barrie Heaton]

The left hand string is a tad longer than the right on older pianos you may have noticed on pianos that are tuned 4 times a year that is always the left had one that goes in the winter and the right hand one in summer if the octave is in

it could be also that more tuners wedge the left string more and mark it making it falser as it tends to show more on older pianos



Barrie,
_________________
Barrie Heaton
Web Master UK Piano Page

[PianoGuy]

Aye, Barrie's right. There's a shorter dead length between the pressure bar and the wrestpin on the RH string, so it makes that the most stable string to tune because you're not losing effort in stretching a long length of wire before the speaking length.

Never noticed less falseness though.

[Brumtuner]

I can't believe that tuners could falsen* a string by their 100 or so visits/Papps-clicks when they get a good hammering anyway, in normal use.

I take your point on the slightly longer string but I was more on about the (lack of) purity of that single string as opposed to the 'out-of-tuneness' of it.


*New word.

[Barrie Heaton]

[sussexpianos]

I always back wedge except for overdampers ( birdcage)

[vernon]

In the case of falseness I always go for the third string which generally seems less false. Goodness knows why. Incidentally, I have an old white Papps wedge but also a wooden one!
vernon

[Brumtuner]

"I always go for the third string which generally seems less false. Goodness knows why."

I'm not alone then.

[sussexpianos]

been reading some books on fine concert tuning and they say you should tune 2 of the 3 strings before checking to see if the octave is correct due to inharmicity ( or something like that). Tune the first string slightly sharp and then the next string and see if its correct. This is why you don't use a multing strip.
I think it would take me a while to tune a piano