Confessions of a "Lookerson"

[david at piano.plus.com]

 This discussion made me think about the possible economic effects of no
piano tuning.  When I thought about it I realised that they are wider
than I imagined.

For the average home-ownes, piano tuning is not seen as a "vital" service,
in the way that fixing a faulty dommestic appliance or service is.  If the
ges or electric stove is bust, it has to be fixed, or no dinner that
night. If a drain is blocked, it has to be unblocked.  So the persons
doing those jobs can afford to charge a hefty call-out fee and in addition
a substantial hourly (or even quarter-hourly) rate - even though fixing
the stove may mean a very low-skilled part replacement.

In piano tuning we give at least an hour, all-in, of very concentrated
highly-skilled time,  and during that hour the skill is being fully
applied all the time.  But we can't in general charge rates comparable to
the stove or drain persons.

On the domestic front, if we all hiked our prices up to electrician or
plumber heights, people simply wouldn't get the piano tuned, and we
wouldn't get work, and homes would have out-of-tune pianos.  Perhaps there
would be negligible difference to the economy.

But what of tunings for recitals and studio recordings?  If there were no
in-tune pianos, would the piano be almost instantly wiped out as a musical
instrument and replaced with electronic keyboards?  Would pianos simply no
longer be featured in recordings?  Would CD sales drop?

I don't know!


Best,

David.




"Yep,? the treadmill guy is not over-pricing...Piano techs are under
pricing.?? I
once told a store owner it cost me less than 1/2 the store discount to get a
tuning.? The store discount was competing with my advertising and
referrals, and I
told that store owner he was losing and the discount had to change.? The
store
owner found another tech who liked working for peanuts.?? Outrageous store
and
school discounts fuel low priced techs, because they don't know any
different.??
Low priced techs then compete in the marketplace with low prices (because
thats all
they know) and keep market prices low.??? Many techs have the same high level
training and experience as surgeons, yet the pay remains as if they are
custodians,
relegated to sweeping the floor.? Bob".