How Soon to Tune?

[Brian Henselman]

>BTW:  I always raise the pitch whenever necessary to achieve A-400 on new
>pianos

Doh!  I meant A-440.  Don't you just hate typos!!!!  A-400 is just a tad too
low, even with stretching strings ;-)

-Brian Henselman

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Henselman <musicmasters@worldnet.att.net>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: How Soon to Tune?


>I too prefer to recommend at least 2 weeks after delivery, but for a
>different reason.  Scheduling.  I'm usually booked about 2 weeks in
advance,
>and rarely can come out with the before-mentioned 72 hours notice.  I
>personally suggest a window of 2 to 4 weeks after delivery on new pianos.
>In that most pianos drift flat very quickly (fresh strings), I don't want
to
>have to perform complimentary pitch raises every time I do a dealer's promo
>tuning.  That's why I cap dealer tunings at 4 weeks max. after delivery.
>
>BTW:  I always raise the pitch whenever necessary to achieve A-400 on new
>pianos.  However, local dealerships want the HMO-type flat-fee approach
when
>billed.  Hence, I've had to "learn" how to integrate pitch raising into a
>single tuning visit (and not get paid any extra for this skill by the
>dealership).
>
>The upside to pitch-raising is that it makes aural tuning a lot more
>interesting.  It turns an ordinary aural tuning into a bit of an adventure.
>Also, when I can charge for the pitch raise (ie a private tuning customer),
>it sure makes tuning more profitable.
>
>Now that I've mastered integrating pitch-raising into a single "aural"
>tuning visit, I don't have the hassle of driving back a second time.  That
>saves overall cost to the client, and they are usually thrilled to pay a
>small pitch raising fee as part of a single visit, as apposed to paying for
>double tuning sessions.
>
>Just my 2 cents worth!
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: A440A@AOL.COM <A440A@AOL.COM>
>To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 2:52 PM
>Subject: Re: How Soon to Tune?
>
>
>>
>>>My own personal bias is that anything more than 72 hours would be
>>>unnecessary. But I'm willing to learn.
>>
>>Greetings,
>>   This will depend on the quality of the service.  I suggest two weeks.
>>This allows the piano to cycle through the household's day/night changes,
>and
>>generally get acclimated to the relative level of humidity at that time.
>>    A larger reason for the wait is that two weeks of play will call forth
>>break-in problems like damper pedals losing regulation, "sticking keys",
>>maybe a jack pad that didn't really have enough glue will have fallen off,
>>and the damper wires that moved early in their settling will be rattling.
>>    A couple of weeks delay in that first tuning/service can save extra
>trips
>>in the first two months or so.
>>Regards,
>>
>
>