Pitch Raises (Was re:Year??)

[John Ross]

Hi David,
Up here with seasonal changes, it is nothing to see differences of 1/3 of a
semitone, up or down. This happens in pianos I tune for a University, twice a
year. I have to lower them up to a 1/3 ST in September, and raise them up to
1/3 ST in January.
The grands for recitals are tuned once a month or more.
So as a rule I will just recommend tuning once a year during the heating
season, and I then find them fairly close to pitch.
During our summer season the humidity can be anywhere from 60% - 90%, on any
given day.
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Vanderhoofven wrote:

> Dear Ed,
>
> Pitch raises aren't fun and make our work harder.  But if the customer
> doesn't have their piano tuned often enough to prevent the piano going flat
> in pitch due to neglect, they should not object to an extra charge for the
> pitch raise over and above the tuning charge.  They have not had their
> piano tuned for years and saved lots of tuning fees over the years in the
> process.  With regular tuning every 6 months, the pianos wouldn't be 40
> cents flat.  Now that you have brought the piano up to pitch and done a
> fine tuning, the customer is happy and rushes to their checkbook to pay
> you.  Since you have done extra work, you should get paid extra.  If you
> are still grumbling after you got paid, raise your price until you aren't
> grumbling and your customers are!
>
> Sincerely,
> David A. Vanderhoofven
> Joplin, MO
>
> >Ed Carwithen wrote
> >
> >  This and two others were my days work.  All three over 40 cents low. The
> >other two were Gulbransens.  3 pitch raises and tune in one day is more
> >than I care to repeat for awhile. (grumble, grumble, grumble)