[pianotech] Workload

[David Love]

Wow, 8 a day!  I can't imagine doing that many on a regular basis unless it
was institutional work.  For me 4-5 is a full load for one day though I'll
do 6 if I'm traveling somewhere and trying to combine things and assuming
they're straight tunings.  My preference, however, is to tune in the morning
and work in the shop in the afternoon which means 2-4 depending on the scope
of the work required on each.  Over the years my customer base has improved
enormously so I don't do nearly as many trashy little spinets, though I
don't turn them down.  Trashy little spinet owners do upgrade now and then.
Since I'm lucky enough to have a constant backlog of rebuilding projects
ranging from action work to full soundboard installations I don't have a
problem maintaining a balanced schedule.  I don't work weekends unless
forced to though I do find myself gravitating toward the shop (home shop) at
any and all times.   

 

David Love

www.davidlovepianos.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Chuck Behm
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 6:08 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Workload

 

>My ideal daily workload would be 3-4 a day, maybe 4 days a week.
 Or, if I ever get into rebuilding like I hope to one day, 2-3 days in the
shop, and 2-3 days doing service calls. JF<

John and others - If you're curious as to what it's like running a
restoration business on the side, and tuning as your main source of reliable
income involves, I'll give you my numbers for the month of October. My wife
and I got back from the convention in Charlotte late on Monday, the 5th, so
the first few days of the month, I was not working. Since starting up on the
6th, I've done 83 tunings this month, and spent 9 1/2 days in the shop
working on an upright restoration. The shop time consisted of both 1/2 days,
and several full days.

A full day of tuning for me is 8, although many days I schedule in less,
depending on what's available in the area I'm traveling to. Since I've never
advertised, my customer base is completely word of mouth, which, in the
words of Monk, is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is I've never paid a
cent to advertise. The curse is that my business is scattered over several
dozen counties in Iowa - thus I put 30,000 miles on my business car a year
getting to my appointments. I envy folks who don't have to travel outside of
their city limits to fill their calendar. Many days I have a 2 hour drive to
get to the area where I'm tuning for the day, and the inevitable 2 hour
drive back again at the end of the day. It makes for a long work day. 

With 8 in day, I'm tuning just standard family instruments - Kimballs,
Wurlitzers and the like - and mostly pianos that I've tuned yearly for 20 or
25 years in a row. Definitely not concert hall work.  If I'm tuning a piano
that I haven't done before, especially when it's a call from a new customer
who tells me that the piano hasn't be done in several decades, I allow
considerably more time. I can't imagine trying to do 18 pianos in one day,
Wim. You would have to waggle a $1000 bill in front of me to keep me going.
That might not even work after the first 8. 

One of the best things about doing the restoration on the side, by the way,
is that it gives you something to fall back on when the tunings just aren't
there. You don't have to sit, twiddling your thumbs, wishing you had
something to work on. There is always work in the shop to be done. In fact,
after I have breakfast, that's what I'm off to do. I'm finishing shimming,
then shellacking a soundboard this morning. I love Saturday mornings in the
shop! Chuck

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