It's Gonna Be Good..slightly OT

[Farrell]

Oh, good grief Paul. If I counted every minute for every job I do I would
say no to many of them. Yes, I have thought about all that. Opening up my
box of strings, digging out the right one, rolling them back up, etc. easily
took 15 minutes or so. Yes, I should have charged them $15 for my time, plus
the $15 I charged for the string.

But I had fun. They were nice. I won't be surprised if they call me later to
put the string on and tune the piano. They may become good clients. They may
tell their friend and neighbors about the only piano tuner that would help
them. I just think there are often some intangible benefits to helping
someone out. What goes around comes around, my wife says, and I agree.

This type of thing happens maybe once every six months to a year. I can
afford that investment. What do you do when you get the call from someone
seeking advice on buying a new/used piano? I often spend a good 15 to 30
minutes (sometimes more) discussing what kind of piano might meet their
needs, what to look for, where to look, etc. There are many similar
situations that arise in our profession. Some techs will just say no and
save themselves the aggravation, and some will extend a helping hand -
perhaps they will waste their time, or perhaps they will be rewarded with a
good client. I simply try to help folks with their pianos in any way I can.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: <larudee@pacbell.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2001 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: It's Gonna Be Good..slightly OT


> Terry,
>
> How long did this visit take, and considering how much you made off the
sale of
> the string, how does that work out as a hourly rate?
>
> Farrell wrote:
>
> > My instructions simply included that warning that significant training
is
> > required to know how to cut the wire, customize the wrap length, etc.
and
> > that someone with training and experience should do this. She says her
> > friend "know-how-to-fix-piano".
> >
> > They came by - husband, wife, and cute little daughter. Spoke broken
> > english - recently off the boat from Asia somewhere. Very nice people.
Man
> > was pretty slick. Impressed me. To figure diameter, he measured the
> > circumference of the two adjacent strings (missing string is monocord)
with
> > a piece of paper rolled around the strings. He then measured the paper,
and
> > converted from millimeters to inches for me. The note was G1, and he
came up
> > with 0.189" and 0.169" for the two adjacent strings. Not knowing my
sizes
> > right off, I went to a spinet in my shop (their piano is a console I
think)
> > and measured the diameter of G1 - 0.185". I told him I had to question
the
> > accuracy of his measurements, but that they did indeed seem to be close
to
> > what might be expected. I sold him a universal of 0.179" diameter. Maybe
his
> > measurements are good. Pretty impressive that the lower string came out
> > bigger than the upper one.
> >
> > I have to admit that I did consider saying no to selling the string. But
I
> > had sold treble strings to a chainsaw repair place (for cleaning fuel
> > lines), felt to a sports clothes embroidery place (for some sewing
machine
> > oiling thingee), etc., etc. First time for everything and I guess I feel
> > that I learn more if I just go for something. I do realize this one may
have
> > a few pitfalls awaiting! We'll see!
> >
> > They just bought the piano and know it needs tuning. Why they didn't
just
> > have me stick it in when I go there to tune is beyond me. Perhaps her
friend
> > will tune it for her. We'll just have to wait and see.
> >
> > Terry Farrell
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Phil Bondi" <tito@PhilBondi.com>
> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> > Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2001 2:43 PM
> > Subject: Re: It's Gonna Be Good..slightly OT
> >
> > > Are we guessing at the gauge or is she bringing the broken wire with
her?
> > >
> > > There must be a God..I'm agreeing with Wim again..I've sold a few
elbows
> > > myself to people who knew how to put them or..or so they
claimed...I've
> > sold
> > > a few keytops, too.
> > >
> > > Terry, are you going to give instructions on how to do this, or are
you
> > just
> > > gonna sell it to the customer?
> > >
> > > Damn I wish I lived closer....!,
> > >
> > > Phil
> > >
> > >
> > >
>