regulation

[Les Smith]

>
> I have tuned many new, small uprights, most commonly Yamahas.  These
> pianos are supposedly regulated by a tuner contracted by the store.  What
> I find, though, is that the regulation is either ignored, or regulated to
> 'strange' specs.  I find that the backchecks are set so far back that the
> hammers check almost at the normal resting position for even a medium
> blow, and that the capstans are set so high that they do not return to
> underneath the hammer butt when the key is released slowly.  As a result,
> repetition on these pianos is very poor.  The owners often think that this
> is normal, and are resistant to pay for regulation (that should have been
> done previously?).  Is there a reason for regulating the actions to these
> unusual specs that I am missing?
>
> Laurence Beach
> Vancouver BC, Canada.
>
The reason is dollars, Laurence, pure and simple. You get what you pay for
and we live in a world where the "bottom line" rules. As long as dealers are
unwilling to pay enough to ensure that the job is done right, or let out
their tuning and action work to the lowest bidder, incompetent, hastily-
done, slipshod work will be the inevitable result. And no one seems to care.
I stopped doing such work YEARS ago, because I got tired of haggling with
dealers over the work the instrument needed vs what they were willing to
pay for. The real kicker lies in the fact that when you go out on a call
and find a new piano so badly out of regulation and bring it to the atten-
tion of the owners, they're likely to blame YOU for trying to hustle them
into doing work their piano obviously doesn't need because it's new!!!
Frustrating, isn't it?

Les Smith