Thanks for the reply Blaine. It makes good sense. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Blaine Hebert" <blaine.hebert@att.net> To: "PTG Piano Technicians Guild List" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 11:39 PM Subject: A Reason To Document > Dear Corte, > > I have been at this for 30 or 40 years, so let me throw in my $0.02: > > I follow my grandfather's tradition of putting my name and tuning dates, > usually on the bass keys. I frequently have noticed that I was pulling > certain pianos up 2 beats or down 2 beats, and I regularly noted this, > or if I left the piano sharp or flat (by putting the frequency in > parentheses if I didn't change it). After about 10 or 15 years you > begin to see the pattern (sooner if you are smarter than me). Here in > California pianos go about two beats sharp or flat if the customer uses > heating or air conditioning, both of which dry the RH down. Unheated > homes in the spring or fall can be quite humid and very dry under > air-conditioned summers or heated winters. I try to never pull sharp > pianos down in spring or fall and to shoot for 441 in humid weather and > 440 in dry conditions. All of this is carefully discussed with the > customer as needed of course. > > Now, what I'd like to know is how many tuners manage to get paid for > those 2 beat pitch raises! > > Blaine Hebert > > Hello Everyone, > > I have a client and I service their very old beat-up grand, which they = > > got for free. The piano isn't all that stable but still can hold tune = > > reasonably well. =20 > > The owners claim they can't even tell when it's out of tune and that = > they have a friend that plays it and tells them when it's time to call = > > the tuner. =20 > > Whenever I usually get to the piano, it's usually out by 10 cents or so > = > (I tune it once in the summer and once in the winter). I'm thinking of > = > just floating the pitch at wherever the "A" happens to be. That would = > > save me the trouble of pitch raising and adding instability to the = > instrument (since it is so old and not in great shape). > > What are the thoughts on this? Am I, as a piano technician, not = > servicing the customer properly if I don't always tune to A-440? Is it > = > wrong to "cut corners" in this case even though the client would be = > oblivious to it all? > > Thanks, > Corte Swearingen > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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