World's Worst Tuner

[David ilvedson]

> Date:          Sun, 30 Mar 1997 19:10:05 -0500
> From:          jptuner <jptuner@asan.com>
> Subject:       Re: World's Worst Tuner
> To:            pianotech@byu.edu
> Reply-to:      pianotech@byu.edu

By your comments I gather you are referring to work you do for a
dealer as in he sells a piano and gives the customer a "free"
tuning.  Thats where you come in and you probably agreed to do
this work at a discount?   I quess the dealer isn't tuning the pianos
in the store before he tries to sell them?  I would point out to
the dealer that you are being put in an awkward position by his
cost cutting store policy.  If he wants satisfied customers he
should seriously consider at least a once over in the store to
bring them up to pitch.  As far as bringing down the middle to
match the flat treble.  It seems like it would be just as easy
to bring up the treble and get the piano closer to pitch.  If I
was in your situation and I couldn't convince the dealer of his
folly, I'd give it two guick passes with the final pass
concerned mainly with the middle and make sure the customer
is going to stay with you. Remember it will be that much easier
in 4 months.  I would imagine that most of the time those
referrals are continuing to use you?  If not, whats the use of
doing discounted dealer work?

David ilvedson
Pacifica, CA




> Randy Potter wrote:
> >
> > Commenting on my story of the guy who used the old brown Conn and gave
> > the piano "the lifetime tune", and Gordon Large's follow-up comments,
> > Arnold Schmitt of Raleigh, NC remarked:
> >
> > >I have never heard of a case as serious as this, but I have surely heard of
> > >the tuner who comes into the house, supposedly checks the piano, and finds
> > >that "only three or four keys" needed tuning.  Also, I personally know of
> > >somebody who tunes his pianos in usually half an hour or less because he
> > >basically just tunes the two or three octives around middle c and stops.
> > >His theory is that he is payed by the piano, not the hour, and, if they
> > >complain, he will go back and "finish", but, if they don't, he got in and
> > >got out that much more quickly.
> >
> > Fortunately (though not for Alaskans, nor those living wherever he may
> > have moved later) that guy moved to Alaska. Actually, he ran away, and
> > the police still have a warrant out for his arrest (unless they have
> > caught and prosecuted him by now), on a charge of theft. He "sold" his
> > store and started a truck sales operation, took dozens of pianos and
> > organs on consignment, then sold them and kept the money.
> >
> > At any rate, I occasionally hear of people who decline to raise the pitch
> > if a piano is flat, who just "touch up the unisons" or "tune the piano to
> > itself". We have a guy in our area who does that, and the several
> > technicians who know better, and who do better, follow him up a lot.
> >
> > When someone asks me about such proceedures, I tell them the following:
> >
> > Suppose you took your car into Schwab's and asked them to "check the
> > tires".
> > They do.
> > As you drive down the street you notice your car is sloshing around as
> > you change lanes or turn corners, so drive back in and ask them about
> > what they did.
> > "Sure, we checked them. Some had more pressure than others, so we made
> > them all the same. They all have about 28 pounds pressure in them."
> > "But the sidewall says they should have 35#, not 28#", you reply.
> > "Oh, it doesn't matter, as long as they are all the same", they reply.
> > Balogna! It DOES matter!
> > Your piano was designed to have about 40,000 pounds of tension on it
> > (about 35,000 pounds for spinets). That tension bleeds off over time,
> > just as tires on a car go flat - whether it is driven, or whether it just
> > sits in the driveway. When the tension is allowed to bleed off, and the
> > pitch to drop, it is like letting a fat lady out of a girdle. Glue joints
> > break loose, and the soundboard goes flat as the rim spreads and it can
> > actually pull the soundboard apart. That is one reason we want to keep
> > the piano up to pitch.
> > Another reason is because if you hear flat tones, you will learn an
> > incorrect sense of pitch. This is especially true of children, who will
> > learn to sing flat if they grow up hearing a flat instrument, and will
> > have a poor sense of developed pitch their whole lives."
> >
> > Yes, there are some pianos that cannot be brought up to pitch (A-440)
> > without excessive string breakage, but I find this in only about one of
> > every 100 or 200 old uprights which are flat when I get to them. I follow
> > up "tuners" all the time who make it a habit of saying a piano cannot be
> > brought up to pitch as an excuse for doing anything that might result in
> > a broken string (because they are incompetent at replacing them - ? - or
> > perhaps because they are too lazy - or perhaps because they just do not
> > know any better). So they won't even try.
> > It is sad, because not only does the piano owner lose the benefit of
> > having a properly tuned piano, but the tuner looses the benefit of
> > earning an appropriate income for the services he provides. Not only does
> > he cheat his clients, but he cheats himself out of the pleasure of
> > knowing he is being fairly paid for the work he has done, and of being
> > paid for doing additional work (pitch raise or chip tunings).
> >
> > Randy Potter, R.P.T.
> >
> > Randy Potter, R.P.T.
> > Randy Potter School of Piano Technology
> > "Training Competent Piano Technicians Into the 21st Century"
> > Celebrating 10 Years, with students & graduates in over 55 countries!
> > See our web page at www.tuningschool.com
> > We are accepting registrations for our 1997 Hands-on Training Seminar
> > July 6-13, 1997 @ Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN.
> hello,
>        There are cases where a customer does not want to goe for the
> pitch raise they just want one tuning.If they are totally against paying
> for a pitch raise and want the tuning, i tune it at the pitch were it is
> or in some cases the treble section is so flat to the middle you have to
> drop the  middle section so  you dont have to raise the treble to
> much,this is crude but sometimes you may have to do that to save you
> time in the house, and they can have a somewhat playable piano.If im
> tuning for dealers and they dont want to pay for pitch raises and the
> piano is flat, i raise it a little enough to hold for the 4 months when
> they call for the follow up tuning. then if the customer calls me back
> and uses me as there technician then i will pitch raise the piano and
> service there instrument as it were mine.If they call another tech then
> let him worry about it.when you tune for dealers you have to draw a
> line,you can not keep a dealer for to long for charging for pitch raises
> they will soon find a  tuner cheaper and use them.
> .
>
>