> The elderly (mid-eighties) woman Point #1 resistance to change - momentum, changes in hearing acuity and perception > Kimball/Whitney 36" spinet, 1960s. Point #2 what on the planet goes out of tune farther and faster than a Whitney spinet? Unless it's maybe a Whitney console. > The piano was indeed 40 cents flat. Point #3 see #2, #1 >I thought - "hey, this lady's got pretty good ears." Point #4 see #3, #2, #1 >.. and use the Thomas Moore temperament. Point #5 why???????? Ok, not to make too fine a point of this, here's the rundown. If the lady has EVER heard the piano in tune (that's probably point #6), it was a VERY long time ago and she can't remember how it sounded any more than any of us could. She's used to hearing it out of tune, and would likely be happy to have it sounding like it did through that thirty year stretch before it finally got bad enough to need tuning. Even if you could exactly reproduce what she was satisfied with twenty years ago, she would hear it differently now. That magic aura (lost knowledge of the Ancients) that made it stay in tune all those years has been dispelled by the last tuner having changed it. It's gone forever. Ask anyone. You're stuck with this one. Go back and check out the tuning, touch up a few things to indicate your willingness to help, and talk to her. You both need to understand what she thinks she's hearing, what you think you did for the piano, and what you both think is the result. If you can get everyone thinking the same thing, you win - except for the wasted trip. If not, you both lose - and you still wasted the trip. Either way, it's a mutual reality adjustment. Good luck. Ron N
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