David, I agree with almost everything you've said here except for a couple of minor points. If I am being paid by the dealer to do a warranty tuning or more, then I am obligated to report back to them. If I am being paid by the client, then I advocate for them, but a good relationship with the dealer makes all the difference. In this particular geographic area, the recession has played a bit of a part on the prepping of pianos before sale, but generally, over the years, I have seen a consistent attitude to do as little as they can get away with. I would say a majority of pianos, from different dealers, have gone out the door with nothing more than a quick tuning and fixing an obvious malfunction. We all know there are brands that come out of the box needing much less than others. But do they need absolutely nothing? If one dealer in the area does nothing, it creates a climate in the "neighborhood" for the others to do nothing. The manufacturers seem to allow this. This is one of the things I've been talking about. jeannie -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:07 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Jeanie's brain storm - was Boston changed to dealers... For the most part there are no differences in how they should be prepped with the exception, perhaps, of voicing. The usual stuff of regulation, string seating, bolt tightening, etc, is fairly universal. A particular manufacturer's tonal leaning can vary of course. You wouldn't want to try and make Yamaha's sound like Steinways or vice versa, nor are you likely to be able to. I think that any competent tech ought to be able to prep any piano even if they've never seen it or heard of it and the tonal signature of a particular instrument should be something that you can figure out on the fly. The greater issue, perhaps is that the state in which the pianos arrive at the dealers can vary considerably. Some arrive pretty well ready to go others require hours of prep by the dealer to arrive at the same state. Since most dealers have a number of different techs at their disposal often with varying levels of experience and expertise, the quality of the prep work can vary quite a bit. That only makes sense. A tech who does mostly floor tunings doesn't require the same expertise as someone who preps concert grands. That, combined with each dealers own standards about how much time they will devote to each piano can at times create a somewhat unpredictable presentation for each instrument. Ironically, when times are good and pianos are turning over very quickly there seems to be less time for dealers to do the work on the showroom floor and pianos tend to go out less "prepped". When times are bad and quality prep work may be more instrumental in helping to sell the instrument dealers may find themselves less likely to spend the money to do the necessary work. On a separate issue, a comment about Don Mannino's response to Wim Blees re when encountering a problem with a piano to say nothing to the customer if they are not complaining but take it to the dealer: I don't agree with that and I don't really like being put in the position of having to cover for a dealer or manufacturer at the expense of compromising, in the eyes of my customer, my own expertise and commitment to provide relevant information so they (the customer) can make informed decisions about how to handle potential issues with their piano, in many cases a very expensive purchase. While I don't believe that my information should aim to indict either the dealer or manufacturer I also believe that since I am "hired" in effect by the customer that I would be remiss in my responsibilities if I did not inform them of what I perceive to be a problem and let them know how it might be rectified even if it is before they are aware of it. It's much more embarrassing to have a customer ask about something later and wonder why I didn't notice it, after all, they did. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ron Nossaman Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 6:42 PM To: Jeff Tanner; caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Jeanie's brain storm - was Boston changed to dealers... Jeff Tanner wrote: > I agree that a competent tech should be able to prep any brand, BUT, > there is a definite difference in how each brand should be prepped. The > finished product should reflect the differences in each manufacturer's > philosophy. > Tanner Nonsense. Ron N >> Personally, I think it's many years overdue to ditch the presumption >> that acceptable technical skills are piano brand specific. Shouldn't >> any competent tech be able to prep a new *anything* without a specific >> manufacturer's certification? I'm told that over half the PTG >> membership has never attended, that's *never*, a national convention. >> I don't understand how manufacturers pressuring their dealers will get >> the cheapest tuners the dealer can find into any sort of training >> program when they won't attend the training already offered them. >> >> Just my perspective. >> Ron N > > No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.709 / Virus Database: 270.14.79/2522 - Release Date: 11/24/09 11:37:00 -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 289 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message
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