Check/Correct All Partial Changes Using PCC

FAC Tweaks, Partial Changes

This Partial Change Correction (PCC) feature is relatively new to the SAT IV’s programming. So if your SAT doesn’t seem to be responding to the STO + MSR command it’s program may need to be updated. Being able to correct partial changes is unique to the AccuTuner.  An FAC tuning has fewer partial changes (3) than any other tuning system,  and yet it is the only device capable of  correcting them. (Contains button pressing video).

Custom Over Pull for Pitch Corrections

FAC Tweaks

Programming a custom over pull is so easy it’s not worth making a video of it. The custom over pull is ‘activated’ just like the regular pitch raise feature, but instead of rolling off onto the BlueShift, after MSR stops the lights, roll off onto the Green Shift.  Rolling off on to the GREEN shift activates he Custom Over Pull and uses the amounts stored on Page 123.

The “4th A4 Number”

Mapping

The ‘4th A4 Number’ is the width of the prime’s 2:1 after it has been tuned as a pure 4:2. Knowing this 4th A4 number from the very beginning lets me know immediately what I’m going to be dealing with on that particular piano.

Balancing the Prime 5ths

Mapping

Balancing the prime 5ths involves tweaking the shape of the prime octave ‘curve’ by slightly raising or lowering the mid point of the prime octave curve, while leaving A3 and A4 unmoved. Since using D#4 is not practical to be used as a mapping note, D4 and E4 are used instead.  D#4 can easily be placed between the settings of D4 and E4. Being able to apply this tweak to the tuning is a unique feature of this system of mapping with templates and then using the LC Spreadsheet to create the tuning.

The Prime 5ths

Mapping

The prime 5ths are used to determine the best prime octave width for the particular piano being mapped and eventually tuned. When the widths of the prime 5ths are added together, when that total is -3.0, the prime octave width is about right.

Mapping the Treble with Templates

Mapping

For years and years, I have used the triple octave location for A7.  It’s not a bad spot either.   But since March 2020, I’ve begun tuning A7 higher than that.   I’ve started using the triple octave +5th as a starting point for my A7 location. 

Mapping A0

Mapping

Mapping A0 can be done any number of ways. It can be mapped however you like, but just like A1, once you have it where you want it, it’s location must be measured using it’s 4th partial, since the LC Spreadsheet uses the 4th partials for A0 – A4.

Templates

Mapping

Template: A gauge, pattern, or mold (such as a thin plate or board) used as a guide to the form of a piece being made; an overlay; something that establishes or serves as a pattern. Templates are used for mapping the different sections of the piano.

The Prime Octave

Mapping

When talking or writing a lot about tuning, descriptive shortcuts are inevitable.  Referring to the A3/A4 octave as the “Prime” octave came about as one of those shortcuts.  Soon after that, the term ‘Sub-Prime’ was used to describe or identify the octave below the prime octave.  The A2-A3 octave.

Excel (Spreadsheet) Tuning Organization

Piano Manager

For those without Accu-Tuners, or for those with older Accu-Tuners without the Piano Librarian software, the download package may still be of interest. In addition to the tuning files in the .sat format, the download package also contains the templates in the Excel Spreadsheet format, for opening with Excel or any other spreadsheet program.

What type of piano is it?

FAQs

There are a number of different ‘types’ of vertical pianos, just like there are a number of different sized grand pianos. Knowing the type of piano helps me get a better idea as to what might be involved in servicing it.