Why did you have your pitch raised to 443 on the Grotrian? (ref PW)

Just curious.

You know, my Ibach came from Germany really sharp. I haven't taken it down and touched it up keeping the sharp A that it had. But I wonder if I bring it down, will it lose some of its harmonics? (assumption is that Higher tension = more complex overtones but this is a wild guess).

I read somewhere that Grotrian (among others in Germany) scales their pianos to optimality at a slightly sharp pitch (443-444). In the US they are allowed to fall to 440, where they generally stay.

My memory is a bit hazy on the details, but I had a conversation with Chris Pfund (Beacon Chris) to confirm this and he agreed that Grotrians are made to be sharp!

I talked with my tech who said that it was no big deal to do a slight pitch raise. He did it over two tunings. He thought it might make a slightly brighter and more colorful sound. The overtones might indeed be a little different. The difference would be quite subtle. Most people would not notice the difference in any obvious "Aha!" sort of way.

I like the new sound, though I must admit that it is combined with a thorough voicing to soften the tone.

A good tech is magic. The sound can be maintained at magnificent for as long as the instrument is vigorous.

it's a very high tension system, and the signature sound of the grotrian is very colorful harmonics in the treble, and keeping the board under as high a tension as possible is part of how that color is achieved.

it is very subtle. like fairydust. g's ibach has that sound, too.