Hi list. I am a student technician in Prince George, British Columbia, and I just wanted to throw in a student's perspective. First of all, I agree with what William Monroe wrote, and suspect that most of us do. I just wanted to comment on something that Ron N said about letting others do work on old uprights. Like Ron, I also live in an area where there is more work than technicians. I am glad that the technicians who are very skilled and have decades of experience are choosing the concert-level work over the old uprights. Professional performers expect a very high level of expertise for their pianos, as do many people with expensive good-quality pianos. This is service that I cannot provide. If these technicians decided to undiscriminatingly take on work by whoever called them first, then these clients would not be satisfied, and I wouldn't be able to find as much work. By taking higher-level work, you are leaving students like me to be able to service clients who might have lower needs and can accept a less-than-perfect temperament or regulation. Peter Stevenson On Sat, 2009-01-31 at 15:06 -0600, William Monroe wrote: > Hi Paul, and others, > > I think most ethical technicians tend to do the right thing. I also > think it can be a challenge to convey our approaches via email. Most > of us are probably all thinking similar thoughts, but express it > differently in writing. > > My approach is fairly simple, and I honestly don't ever feel like I > "need to be careful" about a service approach to a particular piano. > The first step for me is education. I make no presumption to assess > the sentimental value of a piano. My assessments are purely > functional/musical in nature. My clients are told exactly (or as > nearly as possible) what they have, what the problems are (including > age problems), and what the various service solutions are. They are > also told very clearly what level of performance they can expect > if/when all the recommended service work is done. This also includes > a "here's what a new or newer used piano might cost you today" > summary. > > What is important to me is that my clients understand fully what their > options are, what they can reasonably expect for whatever money - > including the idea that if they choose to invest money in most of > these oldies, they can expect that it will not increase the value of > the piano one bit (without some degree of restoration/rebuilding). A > key concept for some clients is the recognition that with most old > instruments, they are investing money in themselves, in their > enjoyment of playing, not in the piano. While that enjoyment may not > be as much as a new piano, it doesn't cost as much either. > > Now, with all this in mind, the client makes a choice, not me. If > I've done my job well, and my clients are properly educated, they will > make "A" right choice for themselves (I believe most often there can > be more than one appropriate choice). Most times these days, my > clients choose to upgrade to a better instrument. On occasion, I have > clients that choose to invest $1500 to shape hammers, rebush keys, > clean, lube, tighten, regulate, etc. an old 5' grand, for example. > It's still worth nothing, but it has taken an unplayable old wreck and > made it a reasonably functional instrument. And now, I have a > satisfied client who was not lead to believe they would have anything > other than what they now have. > > Easy as pie. <G> > > William R. Monroe >
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