Judge and Jury

[Farrell]

I was going to share a large amount of wisdom on this thread, but David beat me to it......and more! Excellent response David Renaud. And 2 cents my A$$, at least worth a couple hundred!

In all fairness to the other tech, I might ask about any pitch change the other tech may have done, and then explain how a big pitch change can render the piano unstable. For the same tuning fee, I KNOW that when I do a 60-cent pitch change to a piano, I will consider my tuning job complete with the piano sounding less in-tune than a good piano that I tune every two weeks and is in a stable environment - especially in the upper end of the keyboard. The point being that after this piano gets another tuning, just because it is then in better tune, does not necessarily mean the other tech was a shmuck.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Renaud" <drjazzca@yahoo.ca>
To: <Pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 8:39 AM
Subject: Judge and Jury


>     Do the Job. When done and asked for judgment
> just say, there is the piano, you judge. 
> If they persist say that you don't know how big a
> pitch change it underwent before, it may have settled,
>  but you have heard it over the years, there it is.
> you judge. Also be sure to tell them about the piano, 
> not about the other technician.
> 
>     Chances are it needs more then a tuning. 
> When a technician shrugs from voicing and mechanical
> problems the client may say the tuning is bad when it
> has nothing to do with tuning. Fully communicate with
> the client the whole status of the piano. Likely this
> was not the other technicians fault.
> 
> Example..
>     At an institution with 24 pianos I do, I was 
> surprised to get a call back on a piano I tuned 
> a week before. "it needs tuning". Well I don't
> get road call backs, and rushed over.
>    "Oh thats fine.....its this and this and this,
> this note is dead...."
> Well there is no aftertouch on this grand, the 
> hammers have 5mm and more contact with strings,
> the top octave has no sound for the hammers are so
> worn they hit the wrong side of the pressure bar, 
> there are bridge cracks, regulation problems, 
> rattling keys. The tuning was fine, they recognized
> this.
>     I had tightened all the action screws when I 
> had tuned it, eliminating much rattle, and made 
> a mental note to make a report on this piano.
> So I spoke with the teacher one on one, wrote a
> report, the office wants to start with a full day
> 8hrs work....no hammers yet. The point is they know,
> they know that they know, and they want to work with 
> a person that is letting them know and not shrugging
> it off like has happened before.
>     People are weary of sales jobs, but they like
> solid information they can understand. There is so
> much work to be had if we become not sales people, 
> but effective communicators and educators. Shrugging
> off problem pianos invited assumptions and
> misunderstanding. People like a comprehensive
> approach, 
> even if it for understanding only, not to fix
> everything.
> 
>                               2 cents
>                               Dave Renaud
>                               RPT
>                               Canada                  
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