Rob, et al, Some of you may never have witnessed a "real" pitch raise - meaning 5 - 40 cents flat is nothing. I build in a little extra charge (pitch raise charge, if you must label it) for all of my first time customers because they have rarely been tuned in the last, say 5 to 25 years. Most of my first time'rs are anywhere from 50 to 120 cents flat. I even had one customer tell me it's never been tuned except when it left the showroom floor. Plus, I always ask my customers when was it last tuned - their answer then tells me what I'm going to charge for the first time. If they don't know, I tell them a range and determine what the charge is when I get there by depending how far out of tune it is. The Cybertuner allows for three setting of pitch raises (1) 0 to 60 cents flat (2) 60 to 100 cents flat and (3) over 100 cents flat. (I think these are right) This gives me the opportunity to do a pretty damn good job in one pass. (Of course, its not going to be too stable, but at least its going to be in tune). I - always - tell them that because it was so flat that it's going to need a tuning in a month or so. When they call back to schedule another tuning I charge my standard rate. That is my criteria, Duaine 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 > -- Duaine Hechler Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ Tuning, Servicing & Rebuilding Reed Organ Society Member Florissant, MO 63034 (314) 838-5587 dahechler at att.net www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com -- Home & Business user of Linux - 10 years
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