In a message dated Sat, 10 Aug 2002 11:46:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, diskladame@provide.net writes: > Ooooh, this could be a juicy topic! > > Hi Everyone! > > Who is to decide what the "optimal" tone is for a given piano? Exactly!! > It's a common occurrence -- the customer doesn't want the voicing touched or tampered with in any way and we're driven crazy by the possibilities in the name of optimal tone. So ... how does one go about enlightening the customer on this matter without intimidating them, leaving them with the impression that there is something fundamentally wrong with their piano or that the work we did (such as replacing the hammers) was somehow substandard? > > Z! Reinhardt RPT > Ann Arbor MI > diskladame@provide.net WE don't, but see below. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Erwinspiano@AOL.COM > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 10:36 AM > Subject: Re: Baldwin hammers > > > Hi Ray > > > I say this with all due respect. While I'm aware this happens and I guess the customers is always right since as it is there piano, but that doesnt' mean the piano was producing its optimal tone. It may mean that the raw hammer was producing a better sound than what wa heard before and had they trusted your judgement a bit firther they would have had something perhaps even more thrilling. I wonder if the treble is by now producing the sounds of shattering glass or perhaps if you got a softer set of renners as I did years ago. These are quality hammers but the ones I've seen in recent years always needed voicing especially in the money notes(5 and 6 octaves) > Do you know if the client is still ecstatic? > Best-----Dale I hear this sort of thing all the time. The truth is, beauty is in the ear of the beholder. This is the same basic theme as telling a customer what their piano is worth (as in, this piano is not worth rebuilding). We can suggest voicing a couple of hammers and letting them decide, but we cannot decide what is right for them. We can tell a customer what the market value might be or that they may restore their piano but probably never recoup the investment, but we cannot decide what the piano is worth to them. I will never understand the tech who insists on trying to convince customers his judgement is correct and theirs is not. People can love a piano and put a high value on it without rational reasoning. People can love a sound naively without the experience and knowledge we have. Perhaps in many instances it is better to not try to force more on them than they are capable of with the hope they will become more sophisticated down the road. David Koelzer Vintage Pianos DFW
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