Diane- I think you have done a good job of intuiting and describing a customer we probably don't want to have. For a good life our work needs to be win-win-win for the customer, the piano and the technician. When that can't be the case, it's best to omit ourselves from the situation pronto, with grace and a smile. Some houses are just full of trouble, and we can't fix them. Ed Sutton -----Original Message----- >From: Diane Hofstetter <dianepianotuner at msn.com> >Sent: Oct 1, 2006 3:49 AM >To: pianotech at ptg.org >Subject: RE: Broadwood tuning > >Les, > >In a 13,000 sq.ft. house you might run into everything--or nothing--that's >BIG! > >Seriously though, you might run into everything--or nothing with the >Broadwood. Did she tell you why she didn't have "the last guy" back? >Everything you say suggests that she will not be an easy customer to deal >with. The local company screwed it up--she needed to bring in a "Broadwood >expert"? Are you the next "local guy" who will be responsible for all her >woes in regard to her paino? > >Nor does it sound like an easy piano, for that matter. Any piano that has >"been rebuilt" and is not being tuned by the guy who rebuilt it, is a red >flag for me. A piano that "has been rebuilt twice" is even more suspect. > >Some of the worst customers I ever worked for had "beautiful antique pianos" >in expensive homes. After our earthquake, one lady went after her insurance >company for the century-old soundboard cracks in her rosewood Knabe from the >early 1800's. > >Another had us in to appraise her antique piano for re-refinishing. The >"other guy" did such a "dreadful job". We looked it over pretty carefully, >all the while listening to her tale of woe about his refinishing and how she >was going to sue him, when all of a sudden I noticed a red piece of felt >glued on top of one of the plate struts near where the lid prop went down. >I pulled it off and --- -lo and behold!--- a nice large crack in the strut! >Had we bid on the refinishing job and moved it to our shop, guess who would >have been sued for that?! > >So--if it were me, I would tread very carefully. >Diane > > >Diane Hofstetter > > >----Original Message Follows---- >From: "Leslie Bartlett" <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net> >Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org> >To: <pianotech at ptg.org> >Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 11:30:25 -0500 > >A lady called today saying she has an 1860's Broadwood which she wants >tuned. Says the last guy who tuned it did so to "military pitch"..... >What's that pray, tell? If I do this thing, would tuning it at A=430 be a >safe thing to do? I don't know enough about these old things to even >venture a safe guess. She said it was rebuilt twice, as the first "local >piano company" screwed it up and she had to get a "Broadwood expert" to redo >the whole thing. About $20K with no casework. It is kept presently in a >house which is only sporadically air conditioned. It isn't her "regular >home" of course. They can't afford to keep it cooled since it is a "second >home" long time in the family............ 13,000 square feet. So, I >dread to think what I might run into. > >Info would be appreciated, and info on tuning a harmonium as well. >Thanks >les bartlett >-- >Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.8/455 - Release Date: 9/22/2006 > >
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