A Reason To Document

[Farrell]

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

Two bpm = 8 cents @ A440 - right?

FWIW, not saying my way is the right way, but just the way I do it - for normal, everyday tunings (not concert work, etc.). Anything within 5 cents of A440, just the tuning fee applies. Anything more than 10 cents off I charge for a pitch raise (I actually pro-rate the PR between 10 and 20 cents off @ $2 per cent). Between 5 and 10 cents off is a grey area. Generally a piano that has not been tuned for many years will get the PR charge - because not only does it average 8 cents off, it may be way high in one area and way low in another, i.e. way out of tune with itself - generally, it will be a new client's piano I find in this condition. If the whole piano is a nice 8 cents flat everywhere - or at least the flatness is fairly even across the keyboard, I may well not charge extra for the pitch raise - this case will most often be a piano I have serviced previously and either I did a large pitch raise last time, or it simply has been a few years since the last tuning. Whether to charge or not charge for a pitch raise in the 5 to 10 cents flat grey area is a judgement call. My personal rule is to charge them ($2 per average cents flat) - but sometimes I don't.

Why do I charge for a PR when the piano averages 6 cents flat? Because IMHO, the way I tune, and the pianos I tune on, and the climactic factors in Florida, and the close proximity to the sea, and because there are a few panthers left in Florida (not to even mention the oscillating earth's magnetic field here in western Florida), if the piano is more than 5 cents flat it will require a separate pitch raise pass to produce the kind of tuning that I will be happy with.

Actually, if the piano is more than 2 cents flat or so, I really need to do a separate PR pass to get the tuning I like - and whereas that should mean that I would charge for that PR pass - I just don't think that would go over too well with my clients. And when they are that close, I figure they likely tune the piano often, and it likely will not need the extra work next time we tune - again, even there it is a bit of a grey area.

Boy, that was a lot of wind for just a few details!

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Blaine Hebert" <blaine.hebert@att.net>
To: "PTG Piano Technicians Guild List" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2003 12:39 AM
Subject: A Reason To Document


> 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
> 
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