[pianotech] Pitch raise criteria

[Terry Farrell]

For high end work, anything more than two cents or so flat requires a  
separate pitch raise pass and I charge $45 for a pitch raise. For most  
work, the grey area is around five cents flat. Less than that I tune  
it and pull it up in one pass. More than that, it needs a pitch raise.

However, and extreme case I did yesterday serves as an example (not  
sure of what..... ;-( ). Old guy in a retirement community on fixed  
income getting around with walker. He tells me " I think it should be  
tuned - you last tuned it 5 years ago - but I don't really hear that  
it's out of tune" - the darn thing was WAY out of tune and 25 cents  
flat. I pulled it up to pitch and "tuned" it in one pass and just  
charged him my standard $95 tuning fee.

In this particular case, I really would be hard pressed to say that I  
could have made this 1958 Kohler & Campbell spinet sound any better  
had I made two passes on the tuning. The darn thing was pretty much  
untunable!

I have to say that this is the most extreme case I've ever run across.  
I hope this helps. I don't often raise the pitch of a piano without  
charging my extra pitch raise fee.

Terry Farrell

On Aug 1, 2009, at 7:27 PM, Rob McCall wrote:

> Greetings list,
>
> I just tuned a Samick JS-118 upright yesterday that hadn't been  
> tuned in 7 years (It had 1 tuning right after they bought it brand  
> new and that was it!).  It was flat by about 73 cents below the  
> break, and about 45 cents flat above the break.  Pretty consistent  
> throughout.  All in all, it turned out very well after a pitch raise  
> and then a fine tune.
>
> My question to all of you...  What do you use as your criteria for  
> charging extra for pitch raises?  When is it a "pitch raise" to you?  
> This particular piano was pretty clear cut, but do you have a point  
> of no return?  20-25 cents? Less or more?
>
> I use a SAT IV along with some aural checks to back the machine up...
>
> I'm still earning my wings in this industry and I'm trying to get an  
> idea of what is considered normal (if there is such a thing!).  
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rob McCall
> Murrieta, CA