Brian, I'll be very interested in reading what some of the more experienced listers have to say. While I have never had to negotiate the kind of contract you are talking about, I do have some technical observations. You don't mention type of piano, age and condition. Does it have a DamppChaser? Is it kept closed and covered between Sundays? Your phone number puts you in Indiana, therefore big humidity swings. For estimating your own time (not necessarily for sharing with the church during negotiations), you might want to estimate how long you can get away with "tweaks" between complete tunings, and how long you can get away with tunings between pitch corrections. Perhaps a year of bi-weekly visits consists of 4 pitch corrections, 8 tunings, and 14 "tweaks". Also might want to have an understanding with the church regarding repairs, regulation, and voicing. For example, if they are willing to pay for a tuning every visit, then on "tweak" days you could do other maintenance, thereby keeping the whole instrument in top shape. Incomplete and not too helpful, I know. Let's see what others have to say. Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: Brian Doepke To: Pianotech List Sent: 7/6/2006 6:04:43 AM Subject: Church situation Hello List, Can you help? I have situation that I have never had before and need some wisdom on how to proceed. A large local church called me and asked for a proposal to tune their sanctuary piano. The tuner that they did have was a member of the church and tuned it every week….yes every week. The church is involved with a TV ministry and I am guessing that it might need “tweaked” every week. I am told that the piano will NOT be moved as much as it was in the past and they are thinking that perhaps tuning it every other week would be sufficient. I did tell the caller that it sounds reasonable, but if they feel it continues to need the weekly tuning, then I would work with them. The music department secretary was very kind and not gruff at all, but I am not sure what kind of fee to propose to them. It would be great to have the steady work, but I don’t want to undersell my services either. They wish to have a month “trial period” to see if things work out. I said that it sounded fair to me. I am used to tuning a piano twice a year, so twice a month is new to me. Is there anyone out there who can share some wisdom with me on how I might proceed? Does anyone have a similar situation but the church/institution has you on a retainer fee ? Brian P. Doepke AAA Piano Works, Inc. Piano Tuning-Repair-Purchase Consults 260-432-2043 260-417-1298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20060706/45513963/attachment.html
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