New pianos

[Fred Sturm]

Ken Eschete gave a good overview. My experience is with Baldwins, but
quite similar. Expect to need to do "dealer prep": tighten screws, twist
a few shanks, seat/troubleshoot dampers, ease some keys, look for
squeaks/clicks/knocks, regulate to greater or lesser extent. And expect
to need to tune at least 50% more often, front loaded the beginning of
fall semester (when you're already running ragged). I would say a 50%
increase in service needs is probably a conservative ballpark figure.
Depends where the piano is placed, what the expectations are. Could go
as high as 100%.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico

Robert A. Anderson wrote:
> 
> I'm new to the list, so I don't know if my topic has been exhausted here
> yet. If so, perhaps someone could refer me to the archives (if there are
> archives).
> 
> I service the pianos at Pima Community College here in Tucson. They have
> just begun an arrangement with Yamaha to provide them with new pianos
> for one year, then sell them at the end of the year, then get a new
> batch at the beginning of the next school year. I suppose most of you
> are familiar with this sort of arrangement.
> 
> My immediate problem is to figure out how this should affect the piano
> service budget. On the one hand, these "one-year" pianos won't
> accumulate the service problems of permanent pianos. On the other hand,
> they will require more tuning. Have any of you experienced a changeover
> like this? If so, how did if affect your budget?
> 
> Bob Anderson
> Tucson, AZ