Electric piano

[A440A@AOL.COM]

Horace writes:
<< Or, a 
> room full of 50's/60's vintage Wurlitzer and/or Kimball consoles to try to 
> keep in tune?  I am not sure which is more frustrating....except that, as 
> one very well known technician once said:  "Tuning a Kimball is like trying 
> to nail Jello to a wall" - so, one starts tuning, and, when the big hand 
> goes around once, one stops and moves on, without having to worry about 
> 

And Billbrpt responds: 
>>I'm sure there are abundant numbers of 
piano technicians out there who have not had the kind of lofty career 
described by this man who could figure out how to tune and maintain a group 
of Kimball 42" Consoles and have no trouble at all doing so.'
It takes only the most basic set of skills, common sense and common 
knowledge.<<

Greetings, 
    It is obvious that a point has been missed.  It takes very little to 
"figure out how to tune and maintain a group of Kimball 42" Consoles and have 
no trouble at all doing so."  When you get to the level of compromise that 
these low-end pianos represent, there is little need for high-level skills,  
they are the dregs of the market and all that is required to "tune" and 
service them" is the most rudimentary skills.  That is why the majority of 
them are tuned by the cheapest tuners in any given locality. In my 
experience, (which was at one time considerable), their owners rarely are 
willing to pay top dollar for the techs with the most expertise.   
    It is a great day in a tech's life when they have generated enough 
professional work to say "no more spinets or consoles" and specialize in 
grands.   I would encourage all tuners to aspire towards continually working 
to improve their skills, both technical and personal, and filling their 
clientele with  better and better instruments, leaving the low-end work to 
the beginners.  It is like comparing Volkswagon mechanics to Ferrari 
mechanics,  the latter often begin as the former, but had the chops, 
opportunity, and ambition to attract better and better paying work.   
   There is a difference between having 25 years experience, and having one 
year's experience 25 times. 
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT