People don't want to pay for pitch raises if they are having their pianos tuned regularly. But if it has been 5 to 10 years most people expect to pay more to get their piano in shape. For the regulars, use Reyburn Cyber Tuner. It makes short work of pitch adjustments. It will also produce excellent regular tunings for you to give you the confidence you need to fill the other guy's shoes until you become registered. If you are seeing excessive swings on a twice a year customer, then by all means do not put it back to 440 every time. Split the difference. If it is +25 in the summer and -25 in the winter, tune it to +12 and -12 respectively. Dean Dean May cell 812.239.3359 PianoRebuilders.com 812.235.5272 Terre Haute IN 47802 -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Vinny Samarco Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 5:21 PM To: Pianotech Subject: A-440 and Ethics. Hi Everyone, I have a dilemma. Several months ago, the local tuner in this rural area moved away and asked me to take over his business. I have had good training, but not yet enough to be registered. This man is a fabulous technician, however, his policy was to leave pianos where they are as far as pitch is concerned-except for the local concert hall, and the few fine musicians and teachers in the area who would care about such things. As he told me when he left, "people don't want to pay for pitch raises." I have found this to be the case. I don't have time to put everyone's piano to standard pitch when they don't care if it is a440, or a-435. In this area of the country, the winters are very cold and the humidity drops accordingly. Most people don't want to put the money into damp chasers either. So with dry wood or propane heat, I will be putting in new tuning pins in a few years. So, what is the balance between always making sure pianos are at 440, (as I was taught) and giving the customers what they want or don't want? By the way, I am blind and use my fork to set pitch, so I'm not sure I can do pitch raises as quickly as those of you who use etds. Vinny _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC