pitch raising survey

[Bdshull@AOL.COM]

 List:

I finally couldn't resist putting in my two cents (or 5) worth:

I've been thinking about this for a while, and this thread has encouraged me 
to make a decision.  After charging 10 bucks extra for pitch compensation for 
the last 15 years (real smart, 10 buck 15 years ago was a lot more than it is 
today), I am going to raise my fee for the pitch raise substantially.  What I 
have done in the past is to charge a first time fee for whatever the piano 
needed - straight tuning, pitch raise, lowering, whatever - and on repeat 
tunings stick to my base rate if the piano is tuned annually or more 
frequently.  Not too bad except that I end up doing a lot of pitch raises for 
no extra charge.  Now I am going to raise the pitch raise fee and guarantee 
my base rate only if there is a working climate control system in the piano.  

I just tuned a U1 today which has had a system in it since new 15 years ago.  
Winter dryness hadn't budged this piano from A440, all across the scale.  As 
long as I replace the pads it is rock stable. Typical of my Damppchaser 
system pianos.

Considering the effectiveness of a humidity control system in a piano, I am 
going to reward my clients who have it with a predictable tuning maintenance 
fee.  The humidity system preserves the piano, the tuning and my sanity 
(especially with the Steinway uprights, which are big headaches without 
humidity systems).

Bill Shull
University of Redlands, La Sierra University, Riverside City College

In a message dated 3/7/00 8:53:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
keyboard@cysource.com writes:

<< >Just wondering, at what point do techs start charging for pitch raises? 
(or 
 >lowering)
 >I always include a little pitching in my standard tuning fee but what is a 
 >little? I believe if a customer has failed to keep the piano tuned they 
need 
 >to pay for the extra work. It is normally expected for the pitch to drift 
 >some between schedule tunes but how far until we start charging for those 
 >pitch fees? Care to comment?
 >BP
 
> At this point it looks like tuning any piano that is over 5 cents low is a
 pitch raise in most opinions.  To me, that means that every piano tuning is
 a pitch raise because I can't remember when I have found a piano that was
 less that 5 cents off.  I guess maybe "one price fits all".
 
 Dave>
  >>