lessons learned

[Farrell]

Another thing to consider when talking to a client about tuning a piano at a pitch lower than A440 to save money - i.e., "tuning it where it is": Often these flat (pitch-wise) pianos have not been tuned in decades and a quick check at A4 suggests that piano is about 20 cents flat. You really need to check one or two notes in each octave to see where the rest of the piano is at. Sometimes you will find that the bass is 70 cents flat, the low tenor 40 cents flat, middle 20 cents flat, and the high treble may actually be sharp (the point being that pitch may be all over the place). In such a case you are going to need to do a pitch correction prior to tuning anyway - so rather than adjusting everything to 20 cents flat, why not just bring everything up to the proper pitch (of course, assuming strings aren't popping at 19 cents flat)?

Once or twice in the past, after checking the middle of the piano, I have had a customer talk me into "tuning it where it's at" - only to find out after checking out the rest of the keyboard that I had to do a pitch correction pass anyway - for free. I know better now.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Clyde Hollinger" <cedel@supernet.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 4:58 PM
Subject: Re: lessons learned


> Scott,
> 
> This is a good reminder.  When examining a "flat" piano for the first time, one of the questions I ask is whether or not it will be played with anything else.  Of course I recommend the piano be raised to pitch before tuning unless it looks like
> an old beater where caution is in order, but I still give the client the option of just tuning it at a lower pitch to save a few bucks.
> 
> No doubt some of us will see that as too compromising, but it's their piano and their money, and for some of them the money is in short supply.  (Hope I didn't open a can of worms here.)
> 
> Incidentally, today I tuned for a first-time customer who said the piano was tuned a year or two ago, and it really looked like she was right!  Not the ordinary occurrence.
> 
> Regards,
> Clyde
> 
> Scott Jackson wrote:
> 
> > Watch out for people using playalong disks. This is more common now, as publishers such as 'Alfreds' have CDs to go with their beginners courses. Even 'little Debbie' will know the pitch of the piano is wrong as she tries to play with the CD.
> 
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