local tuner for a historical tuning

[sunnyboy]

I e-mailed a local tuner for a historical tuning and he said he only did Equal Temperaments. Now I read that Equal Temperaments are more difficult to tune than historicals. So would the refusal to do a historical tuning indicate something useful for me? (A humble learner who accepts the value of a tuner`s skill ) . That the tuner will not know as much as he should or could? Many digital devices are advertised to make the job easier , so a trained tuner would surely be able to adapt to the new (old ) technology. I never placed any restriction on the price I would pay. That can`t be the reason.

[iansinclair]

two thoughts.  First, I'm not at all sure that I'd agree that historical tunings are easier than equal temperament.  They are different, yes, but easier?  No.  Exactly the same principles apply for any tuning: the technician must have the correct pitch in his or her ear, and use the correct technique to adjust the string to that pitch.  Note that if one is using a computerized or electronic tuning whiz-bang, it may appear to be easier to get the correct pitch; it isn't, really, as for a really well tuned, professionaly tuned, piano, the various intervals may not be quite exact -- won't get into that here.

The second thought is related: I said above "the correct pitch in his or her ear" -- and this takes time and experience.  There is no substitute for that.  And it may well be that most technicians don't really want to mess up -- quite literally -- a well developed sense of what is right for equal temperament with some other tuning system, and I wouldn't blame them.