A Reason To Document

[Blaine Hebert]

Dear Corte,

I have been at this for 30 or 40 years, so let me throw in my $0.02:

I follow my grandfather's tradition of putting my name and tuning dates,
usually on the bass keys.  I frequently have noticed that I was pulling
certain pianos up 2 beats or down 2 beats, and I regularly noted this,
or if I left the piano sharp or flat (by putting the frequency in
parentheses if I didn't change it).  After about 10 or 15 years you
begin to see the pattern (sooner if you are smarter than me).  Here in
California pianos go about two beats sharp or flat if the customer uses
heating or air conditioning, both of which dry the RH down.  Unheated
homes in the spring or fall can be quite humid and very dry under
air-conditioned summers or heated winters.  I try to never pull sharp
pianos down in spring or fall and to shoot for 441 in humid weather and
440 in dry conditions.  All of this is carefully discussed with the
customer as needed of course.

Now, what I'd like to know is how many tuners manage to get paid for
those 2 beat pitch raises!

Blaine Hebert

Hello Everyone,

I have a client and I service their very old beat-up grand, which they =

got for free.  The piano isn't all that stable but still can hold tune =

reasonably well. =20

The owners claim they can't even tell when it's out of tune and that =
they have a friend that plays it and tells them when it's time to call =

the tuner. =20

Whenever I usually get to the piano, it's usually out by 10 cents or so
=
(I tune it once in the summer and once in the winter).  I'm thinking of
=
just floating the pitch at wherever the "A" happens to be.  That would =

save me the trouble of pitch raising and adding instability to the =
instrument (since it is so old and not in great shape).

What are the thoughts on this?  Am I, as a piano technician, not =
servicing the customer properly if I don't always tune to A-440?  Is it
=
wrong to "cut corners" in this case even though the client would be =
oblivious to it all?

Thanks,
Corte Swearingen