Tally

[Clyde Hollinger]

Friends,

So far (11:30 a.m.) the big snow that was to start at 3 this morning has
yet to bring a single flake to my town.  We might still get some, but
since I don't need to be out clearing the white stuff off my driveway, I
did a little research this morning that might interest some of you.

At the beginning of 2000 I began storing nearly all tuning records on
RCT.  I now have 686 tuning records.  For what it's worth, here are the
name brands of the top twelve in descending order:

Wurlitzer, 95;
Baldwin and Acrosonic, 83;
Yamaha, 49;
Everett, 42;
Kimball, 33;
Kawai, 22;
Kohler & Campbell, 18;
Lester, 18;
Winter, 17;
Gulbransen, 11;
Janssen, 11;
Jesse French, 10.
Those twelve name brands make up about 60% of all the pianos I tune.

Musings:

1.  Only three of those twelve companies (Baldwin, Kawai and Yamaha) are
still in business, although some name brands are now being used by other
companies.

2.  The piano brands in any given area depend mostly on the brands
dealers carry/promote in that area.  Local piano dealers have begun
carrying brands I rarely or never see, including Kemble, Pearl River,
Petrof, Schimmel, and Young Chang, to name some.  How might this list be
different for me two decades from now?  (I don't expect to be tuning
many pianos in two decades; I'll be almost 74.)

3.  I suspect a number of you will look at this list and rejoice that
your list would include many more Steinways and other high quality
pianos.  I suspect others will wish they just had this many pianos to
tune.  I probably do about 850 tunings annually.

4.  I am basically happy with my position in the piano service world.
It would be nice to service a more exclusive clientele, I suppose, but I
like my clients, my clients like me, and the world needs people like
me.  We can't all care for only the top of the line.

Other musings having nothing to do with this list are swimming around in
the back of my head.  I intend to take some time today to update my
business projections and goals for 2001.  Many blessings to all.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT