I tell them the truth. I give them the full spectrum - what is most common and what the extremes are. In central Florida we do not have seasonal pitch changes, so most piano owners who wish to keep a piano in tune are happy with a once-yearly tuning. So when I am asked that question, I'll say something like the following: "80 or 90% of the people I tune for on a regular basis, have me tune their piano once per year. Most really need a tuning by then - but I do have a few that are in surprisingly good tune after a year - I think these owners play very gently and provide the piano a very stable climactic environment. A few prefer to tune twice per year and I do have some piano teachers and professional musicians who tune more often than that. At the far ends of the spectrum I have a couple piano teachers who have their pianos tuned about once every five years (stated with a really contorted face) - and at the other end of the spectrum we have the new $100K concert grand (I do usually mention a prominent manufacturer they will recognize) at the local concert hall where the symphony plays which is tuned every evening before every performance - and sometimes even touched up during intermission - so what's wrong with that piano? Well, nothing - pianos, like guitars and violins will tend to slowly drift out of tune. And yes, one or a few strings can drift a little bit within a day. Pianos are generally more stable than a guitar because of their very stiff cast iron plate. But what do you do with a violin or guitar every time you pick it up - you tune it! Basically it comes down to a benefit/cost balance - there will come a time when your ear says 'this piano needs a tuning', but your wallet says 'sounds fine to me' - sometime after that the ear will drown out the wallet and you call to set up an appointment. But like I say, a once yearly tuning works for most folks. If you are sensitive to hearing a piano going out of tune, and your wallet cooperates, then have it tuned more often, by all means. I tune my piano at home about once every two months - it's driving me crazy by then, but I do have an ear that is more sensitive to the tuning than most - and I also don't get any feedback from my wallet." Something pretty close to that is what I tell them. I think it is honest and covers the full spectrum. Terry Farrell On Mar 10, 2010, at 11:30 PM, Matthew Todd wrote: > Ed, > > Speaking of telling the truth, I am curious as to what you tell your > customers that ask you how long the piano will stay in tune. Do you > tell them in six months, or, "the moment I drive away"? ;-). > > TODD PIANO WORKS > Matthew Todd, Piano Technician > (979) 248-9578 > http://www.toddpianoworks.com > > > --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Ed Foote <a440a at aol.com> wrote: > > From: Ed Foote <a440a at aol.com> > Subject: Re: [pianotech] "premium" vs. price > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 3:22 AM > > Paul asks: > > >>What term do others use to distinguish a fine tuning from a pitch > correction?? I always wonder if I'm getting my point across by > saying "basic" or "fine" or "regular", then immediately continuing > into the "if it's been a long time" spiel. > > > I tell the customer before I check the pitch, that if it is > extremely flat, , that if it is too far from "in tune", I will have > to make up for the years , and it will have to be tuned twice. > This shocks many of them, but then I continue on and tell them that > the first tuning costs far less than the second. This seems to let > them relax enough to say "Go on and do it right". > It is amazing what people are comfortable with if they feel > like they are getting a bargain, even if it costs them more than > they were hoping. It is also amazing how much more people will > trust a tech that is telling the truth. Truth has its own "sound" > and those techs that are always truthful have, for some strange > reason, something in the voice that customers instinctively > recognize as trustworthy. This is important, since the first thing > we have to sell to the customer is ourselves. If we can > successfully do that, they will buy all the piano maintenance that > they can afford. > Regards, > Ed Foote RPT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100311/3a2a1579/attachment-0001.htm>
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