THE best RPT in America/Terry

[Tom Sivak]

Terry,
   
  You're right to say that, to be fair, of course.  I tried to remember exactly what he said, certainly that was at the very least, the gist of what he said.  There's no way he said any of that in jest, though.  This guy was so uptight he not only wore a tie to a warehouse in 94 degree heat, he used both hands to move the tuning lever from one pin to the next.  
   
  I can only imagine what else he might use both hands for.  (...RIMshot!!)
   
  I think most people in this business are basically ethical, whether they have passed the RPT exam or not. I know that the PTG has a pledge, or code of conduct, that we all are supposed to follow, RPT or not.  But I think most of us would conduct ourselves in an ethical manner all by ourselves, without signing any pledge.  
   
  I found some of his comments to be less than ethical.  His behavior, too, indicated to me that to him the RPT status is little more than a way to display his superiority over others, a way to increase his standing, not only in the public eye, but among his fellow technicians.  
   
  Rather than taking the tests as seriously as he could, knowing that he would become a better technician as a result of studying for and passing the exams, he chose to skip a part of the Technical Exam, because he didn't need it to pass.  
   
  He didn't want the knowledge.  He just wanted the tie tac.  
   
  Tom Sivak

pianowerks.inc at comcast.net wrote:
    Heresy or hear-say....lol
   
  -------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88 at hotmail.com> 

> First of all, to be fair, that is heresy, and "quoted" from your memory. We 
> have no way of knowing if he said any of that in jest, or if you misquoted 
> or even misunderstood what he was conveying. 
> 
> Having said that, Being and RPT may have its merits and benifits, but in no 
> way does it guarantee a better income or anything else other than the 
> satisfaction that you passed the test and can put the logo on your business 
> cards. 
> 
> Terry Peterson 
> 
> 
> 
> ----Original Message Follows---- 
> From: Tom Sivak 
> Reply-To: Pianotech List 

> To: pianotech 

> Subject: THE best RPT in America (rant)! 
&g t; Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 06:33:38 -0700 (PDT) 
> 
> List 
> 
> What do you think about an RPT whom I met recently? Below are some of 
> his comments that I found...interesting. 
> 
> 1. Only one or two clients per month can "appreciate" the really fine 
> tuning he is capable of, so he feels that "as long as the unisons and 
> octaves are close" that's good enough for the rest of them. 
> 
> 2. Informed me that he never bothered to learn how to splice a string. 
> His scores on the other areas of the RPT Technical Exam were high enough 
> that he passed without even attempting it. 
> 
> 3. Told me that his hearing is "too good". "I actually hear 
> coincidental partials! When I use a M3/M10 test on an octave, I actually 
> hear the coincidental partials beating!" (WOW! Imagine that! Now there's 
> a set of ears!) 
> 
> 4. Told me he covets the job of tunin! g for h is local symphony orchestra, 
> and regarding the guy who has the gig, "I can't figure out how he got the 
> position. I've heard his work. I do a much better job." 
> 
> 5. Hired to tune pianos in a warehouse (with me and 4 other tuners), he 
> tuned two pianos in 7 hours. (I tuned 6.) He then asked me, "How do you do 
> it so fast?" So the next day, I chose to tune a piano behind him so I could 
> watch him in action to see if I could give him some tips on tuning faster. 
> I watched him as he used both hands to place the tuning lever on each pin, 
> left hand on the tip, right hand on the handle. Then...he'd detune the 
> string by at least a half step to a minor third, before pulling it back up 
> to pitch. He did this on pitch raises as well as the final pass. I 
> commented, "You could improve your speed if you used just one hand to move 
> the tuning lever from one pin to the next." He repli! ed, "I don't want to 
> scratch the plate. That's why I use both hands." (Am I super-coordinated or 
> something, that I am able to move the tuning lever from one pin to the next 
> without scratching the plate? Or is this just another Associate-related bad 
> habit? I 
> couldn't even think of a way to comment on his detuning of each string 
> without insulting him.) 
> 
> 6. Claimed that Virgil Smith told him that he tuned as well as Virgil 
> himself and that he could teach him nothing. (Except perhaps the one thing 
> Virgil should have taught him: to do the best he can on every piano, whether 
> he thinks the client can "appreciate" it, or not.) 
> 
> 7. Wore a tie (with the RPT logo on the tie tac) every day to the 
> warehouse while the rest of us wore Tshirts and shorts. (OK, at this point, 
> every little thing about this guy bugged me...my apologies to all you 
> logo-bearing-t! ie-tac- wearing RPTs out there.) 
> 
> 8. Claimed he won an award from his chapter for passing his RPT exam 
> quicker than anyone EVER had in the past. (Less than 4 years...and...NO 
> STRINGS WERE SPLICED during the production of this RPT!) 
> 
> What a piece of work this guy was! 
> 
> Sorry for that. I do feel better, though, sharing that with someone. 
> Anyone. 
> 
> This is not a rant against RPTs in general. I may be one myself, one 
> day. Call me old-fashioned, but I plan to splice a string at my Tech Exam, 
> plan to continue to do the best tuning I can on every spinet I come across, 
> will continue to not cast aspersions on the work of others in my field, and 
> will never drop Virgil's name in an effort to validate myself. 
> 
> Tom Sivak 
> Associate Member Chicago Chapter 
> 
> 
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