Tuning it where it is

[Asbel Jonathan Corrales]

Mark:

Are you in Indianapolis, Indiana?  If so, you're the man I want to have 
tuning my piano.  I love your business phylosophy and ethics and I commend 
you for that.

If you're not in the Indy area, please advise if you know of anyone that you 
WOULD recommend.  I have a piano that needs a serious tuning and to be 
brought up the 1/2 step that it has lost.  I'm looking for someone with your 
principles to do the job.  Please advise at your convenience.

A.J.


----Original Message Follows----
From: "Mark Dierauf" <mark@nhpianos.com>
Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
To: "pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Subject: Re: Tuning it where it is
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 13:47:39 -0500


 >I never bring an older upright up to pitch, especianly if it has rusty
 >strings.

 >I also don't give a three minute explanation to the customer. I just tell
 >them the piano is too old, and this is the only thing that can be done.

Man, I love guys like that. It makes me look like such a hero when I
come along and show them that with an extra 20 minutes or so (for
which I charge an extra $20) I can almost always get their piano up
to pitch without any extra problems. I explain that the piano will sound
better when tuned to the pitch it was designed for and the pitch-raise
probably won't be necessary in the future if they have it tuned regularly.
These people sometimes become my best customers, scheduling 2 or
3 tunings a year after that.
   True, every so often you will have problems getting an old piano up to
pitch (I warn the customer up front of this). But if there's no evidence of
past string breakage, why not give it the old college try? Usually, where
you do have a problem is in the high treble, and when strings break up there
you can repair them on the spot by the expedient method of "borrowing"
1 1/2 coils from the other tuning pin of the same unison. It can be a pain
(especially on spinets where the action is hard to remove), so I will 
sometimes
charge extra for this, as well. If the strings are very rusty, I'll knock 
them down
in pitch before pulling them up which seems to help in some cases.

 >most customers will accept what you tell them, without question.

That does seem to be the case all too often. Probably that's how the local 
dealer
is able to sell so many Samicks.


 >If you try to explain too much,they might wonder what you are trying to 
hide.

   I think that depends on the customer. I know that when I go to a 
professional,
be it the auto mechanic or the surgeon, I like to get a thorough explanation 
of
the problem and the various solutions, including expected results, longevity 
of the
repair, etc. as well as price for each of the options. The guy who makes the 
best,
most impartial representation of the options and thereby helps ME to decide 
which
course to take is the guy who gets my money every time. I try to provide my
customers with the knowledge that will help them make the decision that's 
right for
them and their pocketbooks, but you're right - some people require a 
different approach.
In some cases, their attitude is "Look, just do the tuning for the lowest 
price possible".
In others it's "Do whatever you think is best, and tell me what to make out 
the check for".


 >Just my thoughts

 >Wim

and mine,

Mark


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