Hi Dave, Well, many of the items in your list of myths impact humidity, including carpet shampooing, outside weather (including temperature -- e.g. hot summer), shutting off the furnace for a few days, etc. So maybe they're not all-wrong all the time. ;-) Perhaps when someone explains the tuning shift in terms of air conditioning or heating or carpet shampooing, you should translate into humidity terms: "Yes, you're probably right. The summer has been quite hot, so your air conditioner has been working overtime and has been drying out the air too much. You know, it's really the humidity, not the temperature that does this. That's because of <insert explanation of swelling wood>. But the good news is that there's a great system made by Dampp Chaser that can keep this from happening in the future...." As for newer pianos requiring more tuning, I think drawing an analogy to breaking in a new car would help (e.g. the oil changes being more frequent at first). Even better than that, have something in print for them. Perhaps the PTG could produce some sort of pamphlet about new pianos for y'all. It's sad, but people are much, much more likely to believe almost anything if it's in print, sometimes even if you put it down on paper yourself (nicely type set, of course, with full color graphics). One of the most daunting things I faced as a college professor was breaking students of the notion that anything in print MUST be true. I think that's what happens when teachers have programmed them for 12 years to "memorize the text." It's is a much more pervasive attitude than most people think! Peace, Sarah ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Nereson" <davner@kaosol.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2004 11:05 PM Subject: customer education > I don't know how many times I've told customers, even those who should > be more knowledgeable, such as piano teachers, that it's changes in humidity > that make the piano go out of tune, but it just does not register with them! > It goes in one ear and out the other, or they just don't believe it, or > they don't believe the soundboard can swell up or contract, or they're > convinced it's because: > > they didn't play it enough, > or because the toddler banged on the keys with a toy, > or because they had the carpet shampooed and the steam must've thrown it out > of tune, > or the dust from the remodeling, > or 'cause they moved it across the room, > or there was a gas leak so they had to shut off the heat for a few days, > or maybe it's not a good piano after all, > or because we had a real cold winter or a hot summer (was the piano > outside?) > or because I didn't do a good enough job last time (3 to 10 years ago). > > It's amazing how large a percentage of piano owners think that playing > it helps keep it in tune. > No matter how much you tell them it's changes in humidity more than > anything else, they still think it's temperature or moving or any number of > other causes. Sure, these things can throw it out a little, but not the 20 > cents that several weeks of rain can do, or 5 years without tuning! > Another thing they just will not believe no matter how often you tell > them or how you phrase it is that new pianos go out of tune faster than any > others and need tuning at least 3 times the first year, 2 or 3 times the > second, and twice a year for the next few years after that. They just > refuse to accept that. Then they're all up in arms two years down the road > when you have to charge them extra for a huge pitch raise. > The pianos need some kind of pop-up reminder display every six months or > year (3 or 4 months for new pianos). > --David Nereson, RPT > > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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