Customer Complaint on Tuning

[joel a. jones]

Nick,

That's a knee slapper alright.   Yup !
  When Council rolls around I propose we make a couple of new 
classifications:
             RPT  { Registered Pianner Twanger }
             RPDT   {Registered Piano DeTwanger}
I reckon the perpetual reclassification  crowd would be as content as a 
herd of  Wisconsin cows.

Say CHEESE  !

Joel
Joel Jones, RPT
Madison, WI

On Aug 17, 2008, at 11:05 AM, Nick Gravagne wrote:

>
> Israel and Joel,
>  
> I can’t help but jump in on this one. Fortunately it all happened at 
> the same visit for me, not a callback. A true story.
>  
> I just finished tuning an old but decent upright for a weathered and 
> wise cowboy on the West Side of Albuquerque, got the unisons as clean 
> as I could. I start playing the piano and the old cowboy appears in 
> the doorway --- large Stetson and belt buckle, thumbs in his 
> waistband, a large shoulder leaning on the doorjamb and, with a thick 
> western drawl, says, “My, my, that sure sounds purrty. And I sure do 
> like that classical music sometimes.”
>  
> I was playing Misty.
>  
> I said something like, yes sir, the old workhorse tuned up pretty well 
> and started to pack my tools.
>  
> “There’s only one thang wrong with it”, he continued and moved out of 
> the doorway.
> “Oh, what’s that?” I asked.
> “You took the twang out.”
> “The twang?”
> “Yes sir, the twang. You know, that honky-tonk thang like ya hear in 
> the old western movies.”
> “OHHH, The TWANG!”  I continued, “Well sir, as piano tuners we go to 
> no small trouble to take the twang out. In fact, it is a big part of 
> what we do.”
> He chuckled, tipped his hat back a bit and suggested, “You mean you 
> good folks maybe ought call yourselves ‘de-twangers’.”
>  
> (I actually considered pitching this idea to Jack Wyatt and my friends 
> down in Texas).
>  
> He continued, “Listen, I know you worked hard, and the pianna sounds 
> real nice for your kind of music, but I sure miss that twang. Can you 
> put it back? I’d be happy to pay more if your need it.”
>  
> By now I was grinning ear to ear, and the old cowboy too, who was 
> beginning to look like John Wayne. And who can refuse John Wayne when 
> he puts on the charm? I said, “No problem, this one’s on the house! 
> Drinks all around!” And I knocked all the left string unisons slightly 
> out. He played some old western tune, slapped his knee and kicked his 
> boot heels on the wood floor and was happier than a pig in slop (or 
> something like that).
>  
> The pianna NEVER sounded this good! He insisted I leave my card. He 
> was going to tell his friends about the de-twanger he had had good 
> occasion to visit with.
>  
> I never heard from him again. But I’m sure the pianna aged beautifully 
> as the months and years went by.
>  
> Respectfully,
>  
> Nick Gravagne, RPT
> Piano Technicians Guild
> Member Society Manufacturing Engineers
> Voice Mail 928-476-4143
>  
>
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf Of joel a. jones
> Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 6:34 AM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: Customer Complaint on Tuning
>  
>
> Israel,
>
>  First year tuning I was sent out to tune a Sohmer console. BADLY out 
> of tune with the usual 1/2 step flat.
>  Well, this was too much of a challenge to pass up. I raised the pitch 
> and achieved a solid tuning. Busting
>  my buttons with pride. A week later my boss asked me to recheck the 
> piano as the customer had called, and did not
>  like the tuning. Puzzled I checked the piano to find that it was very 
> much as I had left it. Busting more buttons.
>
>  I started checking how my pins were set and raised the pitch to see 
> how stable the unisons had remained.
>  Suddenly the customer screamed "That's it ! That's my piano ! " So, I 
> continued to raise one string from
>  the unison two beats or so, much to her delight.
>
>  I rationalize that she had become so accustomed to her piano being 
> out of tune, that when I 'tuned' it the
>  sound she anticipated was gone. Fortunately this scenario only 
> happened once - so far.
>
>  Tuning the customer . Smiles all around !
>
>
>
>  Joel
>  On Aug 17, 2008, at 12:40 AM, Israel Stein wrote:
>
> Many years ago in Boston I was that "other qualified technician" that 
> a lady with an old beater called. She was not happy with how the work 
> of the previous tuner sounded - a fellow whom I knew to be a perfectly 
> competent practitioner. I discussed the problem with her and from what 
> she was telling me I got a hunch. So I slightly fuzzed up the unisons 
> on a couple octaves and asked her if that was better. She was ecstatic 
> - yes, yes!. So I did that to the rest of the piano, collected my fee 
> and left a happy client behind. Never heard from her again, thank G-d.
>
>  Maybe good clean unisons on a crummy piano bring all those acoustical 
> anomalies into sharp focus. Fuzzing the unisons may mask them. Or 
> maybe I am just making excuses. Who knows. But it worked once and I 
> never lost any sleep over it...
>
> Israel Stein
>
>
>  
>

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