old clunkers-digest V1997 #349

[Keith McGavern]

Leslie Barlett posted:
>...I told them I really did not want to tune it because 1) it might not
>hold, and 2) a young child is most sensitive to developmental harm if
>s/he hears bad sounds and pitches, and 3) things could start breaking...
>
>How do other techs deal with this kind of thing?

How I deal with these things:
Decide what is absolutely necessary to make the piano work, what you are
willing to do to make the piano work, how much you are willing to charge to
make it work, and present it to the customer.

Reasons:
1) The piano might hold a tune.  If certain areas do not want to hold a
tune, there are methods available to help those areas.
2) There won't be as many bad sounds & pitches after it is tuned.
3) If things break, fix them.

Bottom line:
A piano that holds a tune, all 88 notes work (even if barely), and the
right pedal works is better than no piano at all to someone who wants to
play.  If you can deliver that, it's a beginning.  Some of the finest piano
players in the world started out on old clunkers.

Keith A. McGavern
kam544@ionet.net
Registered Piano Technician
Oklahoma Chapter 731
Piano Technicians Guild
USA