Do pianos really need to rest before tuning, after being moved?
I'm new to real pianos and just having bought an old 2nd-hand one, it's obviously gone out of tune being moved to my house.
I've heard from a few people, including one tuner, that they need to 'rest' for a couple of weeks or even a month before tuning.
But the tuner I phoned today, who came highly recommended, said this was a myth unless the piano had moved between substantially different environments, and a few days was fine - in fact he said tuning the piano was the best way to get it 'settled in'.
So can anyone give a canonical answer about how long a piano should rest before tuning after a move?
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I am an experiênced piano tuner in Brasil.
If the piano during the movie suffer a heat it nas to wait at least 3 days.
If the piano is moved into the same city, the same region nas in a truck without change about the clime you dont have tô wait .
There's not one right answer, and the biggest factor is the humidity change between origin and destination. 2 weeks is just fine in my experience, and after that the normal seasonal fluctuations in humidity will probably be as big as effect as any remaining acclimatization.
I am a Registered Piano Technician with the Piano Technicians Guild.
Pianos go out of tune during a move due to humidity differences and/or the different shape of the floor. The floor can slightly twist the piano which knocks it out.
Now, let's be reasonable here. Was this piano tuned every four months? Are you going to keep tuning it every four months? If the answer is yes, then you'll want to wait a few weeks.
If this piano is a typical 2nd hand piano, it has not been tuned in 10+ years and is quite far under pitch. The first tuning will not sound great so it's pointless to wait.
A good tuner will be able to get almost anything up to concert pitch. They will not be afraid of breaking strings because they know how to minimize the risk and they know how to replace strings. A piano at concert pitch is always preferred.
I'd leave it for a week or so, as it's in a different environment - may be warmer, colder, more/less humid than its last home. Then get it tuned. You may have a nasty little surprise, especially if it's a wooden frame, when the tuner says he can't bring it back to concert pitch. Maybe he will over two or three tunings - maybe it doesn't matter to you, but if you want to play along with stuff, it's a real boon. Personally, I'm happy for my pianos to be right up at A=440Hz., as it's a perfect reference for other instruments, and it's how they should be, after all. The tuner may want to take a couple of goes anyway, depending on how far out it is. It's not unlike putting new strings on a guitar with vibrato - one thing affects another. Good luck!
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