Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Why not using cheap tuning hammers?

I buyed a 20$ tuning hammers. And I cant tune my piano with it. I dont know if that is becuse I am a bad tuner or becuse the hammer is bad.

The tip dont fit realy good on the tuning pins, the hammer is wobling a lot. But when I aplay pressure on it the friction makes the hammer stick to the tuning pins.

When I want to make fine adjustments, I put a little tension on the hammer and nothing happens I put a litle more tension and sudenly the pin moves 5 degreas and the unison sounds realy bad.

Will a have simular problems if I go for a more expensive hammer?
If you think I shuld upgrade my hammer, are there anything I shult pay atension to? And how can I know I dont get cheated?

With tools, you get what you pay for....

'Exactly! A really good hammer will cost you about the same as the price of two tunings.

Your cheap hammer probably has low grade steel on the tip and it is deforming as you try and tune with it. Eventually it will be completely useless for tuning; it will still work well for hitting yourself in the head for buying it in the first place.

Pay attention to the tip, it should have threads attaching it to the head. This will allow you to change it out if it wears. A good tip like a Watanabe for example will cost you as much as the $20 you paid for the whole thing. I think you need to spend at least $80-100 for even an entry level hammer that will last you a long time. Someone doing this for a living would want to get one that is at least in the $120-150 range. The uber hammers can cost 3 times this much.

Hi Reiman,
Something doesn't sound right with your post. I'm going to out on a limb and call your bluff. Are you really a newbie DIY or a piano tuner trying to have a little fun in the forum?

A good quality tip, and a good lever is an advantage to someone starting out.

You can own the best tool, but if you can't use it, it is useless.

I guess these 20$ levers serve their purpose, to make honestly committed DIY'ers, realise and rethink the amount of experience needed in order to set a pin.

Experienced tuners can tune a piano with a student hammer. It's no fun and annoying. But they can. Amateurs are in for a ride.

I use a Fujan, and on some grands, with my long tip, I can't tune A0 because it is beneath the music desk rail.

I keep an old pitching hammer, must be 80 years old now, short tip and a bent shaft and a wooden handle.

Best tip ever, as good as the day it was machined. But the flex in the shaft is evident, you can see it bend before the pin.

So....

All the best.

Its no bluff. I have never tuned a piano before.
Another question, do I need #2 tip if my tuning pins are 5mm (3/16 in) closest top the pianist and 6mm (1/4 in) closest to the strings?

I have 2 tuning hammers, one was my grandfathers from the 1930's which still works fine, sometimes on older pianos, it doesnt grip as well, and the other is the same hammer I got when I took the courses from The American Piano Tuning School at home. It might be cheap? But it still works for me. Perhaps I should look into a better quality of hammers. Still new to all this so....learning.

I just bought a $130 tuning tip plus a $35 adapter to fit onto my $300 + tuning lever. I am very happy with it - it works quite well. This is probably because I have learned to tune pianos efffectively and I invest in good quality tools.

For someone who wants to tune their own piano such as yourself, you may help among your peers at this Yahoo group:
DIY pianotunings

Woah! Who makes that?!

If you have never tuned before and are using a $20 tool, then the reasonS you aren't finding success are because you are bad tuner (no offense intended) AND the hammer is bad.

Solutions: Become a better tuner and get a better tool. Easy!

Beethoven - I brought one in from Europe to try it out. If I like it I will carry it and offer it to technicians. I have just tuned a few pianos with it. I will hopefully know more after further testing, so stay tuned...
arf arf

WOW! THAT was an entertaining site. Sites like that may explain a couple of very odd tunings I've encountered lately.

Sounds good!

Rieman,

I would like to add my perspective, having started to tune about 3 years ago, and having done only tens (not hundreds or thousands) of tunings. As others have written, a cheap lever, and especially a cheap, poorly-made tip will be counterproductive to your learning - and they may well damage your piano's tuning pins. OK, that's the one extreme.

The other extreme is spending many hundreds of dollars. While professionals such as Jurgen may be happy to do this, I don't regard those amounts as even remotely necessary for a beginner. Especially a tip for $130!

Emmery has already indicated that there is a suitable middle ground between these extremes. Quite a decent lever can be bought for $100 ($150 at most), and good tips, e.g. Watanabe, for about $20. In my case, I don't think that my Schaff extension lever and Watanabe tip are limiting me (yet). To the contrary, they inspire me to make more of each tuning I do.

Hi,
We help piano do-it-yourself people. Send a PM and I can give you more information.

Supply, waiting your supply.

If you are a professional pianist or playing piano as your life long bobby, its worth to invest a set of quality tool. A high quality hammer cost far lesser than an ipad.

He might have meant "$13" for the tip I think...probably a typo.

Beware of tips sold with lifetime guarantees...they simply tag a $10 handling fee (+shipping) to the shipped replacement and still make their money on the ~$3 pacific rim import.

I'm not so sure. Jurgen is not really known for selling inexpensive items, and $13 is like half of what the Watanabes cost.