[pianotech] frustrated

[David Renaud]

Hello

    Questions, a couple shared experiences, and a concrete suggestion...........

But I start and finish with the suggestion.....

    I am assuming there is a problem to be identified.  Ask another tuner, a mentor, someone
You respect and trust to tune it for you. This is normal practice for me on certain occasions.
At one of the concert halls I do, and I really wanted another technician to hear the voicing, so I 
Gave him a tuning on my contract so he could spend an hour with the piano and give me his
Opinion. I have had others where I wanted a second opinion, and simply asked another technician To tune it so we could have the conversation intelligently.  

   Are the stings rendering well, are the pins extremely tight or loose, is the structure moving, 
Are the coils tight, buckets tight? have you identified potential causes?

   Quantify, define the problem, and perhaps solve it and you have a client for life. Or a strong reference(business partner) for life. Even if you can't solve it cheaply and they dispose of the instrument, replacing it, by identifying, defining, quantifying the problem you may win in the long run.  

   I think of a well known piano brand "x" a client had. They went through a pile of tuners with 
No satisfaction on stability.  They called me, and I found the tuning wild, despite the previous tuner being someone I respect. I began a pitch raise and 3/4 through it noticed the bass I had finished was getting progressively sharper, and sharper. Upon inspecting the plate flange there was a big gap throughout except for a single contact point in the middle. The tension being added to the top was teeter tottering tension to the bass side.  I measured the gap for an exact number and sent it to th company, they immediately replaced the piano with a new one.
     I also think of a Steinway D new with buzzes that a pile of good technicians worked on over a period of several years. It would be beautiful and all come back quickly. I found the problem, but not without help. I brought in another technician to confirm what I suspected. Stienwaythen send a technician from New York....I was correct........they replaced the piano.

     4-5 hours is just too long. We need to be confident enough in our skills to know we can tackle 99.9% of pianos is x amount of time to bring them to condition y.  When something falls way outside those perimeters there is something wrong. There is an opportunity for learning, educating a client, building relationships with other technicians, knowing our limitations, and if a positive outcome is had, winning a client and business promoter for life.

                                                   Hope that helps

                                                     Fight the good fight

                                                              Cheers
                                                                      Dave Renaud 


Sent from my iPad

On 2013-01-11, at 10:05 AM, "Leslie Bartlett" <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Do any besides me have pianos which take 4-5 hours to tune, and if so how do you bill for them.   I have some Chickerings which take me that long, and I have a Kawai KG2 (which I’m tuning for a serious concert) which I simply can’t get stable. Not that I get it set and then a whole section will go out, but I just can’t get it to go and stay where it should.   I don’t know what to do in those instances. After all I’m hired to tune the piano, but spending that long is quite counterproductive to income.    I have a customer on whom I spend more than average time but I love the piano and her as a unique musician.  She’s a professional accompanist.  I measured a “pitch raise” after a six month passage of time, and was an average of 1.1 cents off- so I can tune.  But there are a few which just drive me nuts.   Any ideas for sanity in these instances?
> Thanks
> Les Bartlett
> 
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