Judge-and-jury

[gordon stelter]

Thanks Tom,
   It may be hard for some on this list to believe,
but I am generally an affable and very well liked
fellow. I have plenty of friends, and many strangers
call out "Hey Thump!" when I am in public. This,
because I am quite well known for playing classic
American popular music (1890-1950) out of an highly
modified van. I once had an offer to appear on the
Tonight Show, and have sung with major artists at jazz
festivals and for the New York Philharmonic, too.
    But when I quit living in the monastery and moved
here, the established "tooners" did their very best to
make my life miserable because they knew I would
introduce the locals to quality work. And they felt
very, very threatened!
   I could go on for pages, but let it suffice that I
saw pinblocks put in concert grands with no flange
fitting, the aforementioned shattered pinblocks (at
least 6 of them), a customer told that it would cost
$400 to take a buzz out of her new Baldwin (it was a
loose sondboard button), and etc..  And all these
"repairs" by the area's most "reputable"
"technicians", who recieved plenty of referrals from
the music stores, too!!!
     Because I would not join their cabal: mutually
sworn to doing the very cheapest, laziest work
possible. I quickly became the "enemy". For 15 years I
could get almost NO work here for the FLAT OUT LIES
told about me ( drug addict, sas pianos apart to move
them, etc. ) and went to work instead for several
dealers in a major city 50 miles away, where I retored
several Ampico "B" grands and many other rare and
costly instruments.
     To this day, several of the tuners here charge
$50, which is very hard to compete with if you are
trying to do quality work! Some of them are O.K., but
several are not. Considering the intentional grief
some of them have caused me and, more importantly, the
minefield of badly damaged instruments and bitter
customers they have left behind:  customers who now
think all piano tuners are crooks, what kindness,
exactly, do I owe them?
    
    Thump

P.S. I am happy that one regional tech took a nicely
restored Steinway to the Music Teachers' Association
convention, which raised everyone's awareness around
here considerably! And there is also a young fellow
here who seems to be aiming for quality. By "raising
the bar" these, in my opinion, help us all!

--- Tom Driscoll <tomtuner@attbi.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> <SNIP>
> 	    Now, what kind of sympathy should I have for a
> crook like this, who has left a trail of mutilated
> instruments 5 miles wide and 30 years long? NONE!
> But
> I DO have sympathy for his victims, so I try to
> "break
> the news" to them as compassionately as possible.
> And
> witha little bit of humor.
>      This "tech" died recently. And I, for one, am
> not
> at all sorry. To say the least.
>      Thump
> 
> Gordon,
> 	A surprising comment from a man of such sensitivity
> and
> compassion. You truly are a multi faceted
> individual.
> 	Tom Driscoll
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pianotech list info:
https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


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