A pain in the tushy. I charge by the hour (an elevated hourly rate that compensates me for the pain and suffering as well as the mental trauma associated with this type of work). Same thing for square grands.? ? Terry Farrell? All of the suggestions tuning the "over dampers" are great. But I have a problem with what Terry just said. Why charge an elevated hourly rate because of?"pain and suffering" and "mental trauma"?? Where do you draw the line between what causes?"pain and suffering" and normal and usual work".??Define "mental trauma", as related to working on pianos. I'm sorry, but we are piano technicians, supposedly capable of working on any type of piano. This would include uprights, spinets, squares, and "birdcages". It's one thing to tell a customer "I can't work on this instrument".?but it is not OK to?charge more than the normal rate because you don't' want to work on it.?Yes, it is going to take longer to tune?an overdamper and a square, and you are entitled to charge?for the extra time it takes. But we shouldn't charge more than your regular hourly rate, just because?it causes "mental trauma". Hell. I hate working on spinet dampers.?It's literally a?pain in the back, and I'm ready to tear my hair out. But that's my problem. The customer should not be punished for it. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Tue, Sep 8, 2009 11:07 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] Bluthner birdcage Thanks for the pics Rob. I've tuned a few English birdcages - never a Bluthner. On the English birdcages I loosen the top anchor bolts for the action (or however the action top is attached to the plate). Then I simply (or not, as the case often is) tip the action forward to move my mutes, push the action back, tune the string, tip action forward, move mute, push action back, tune string, etc.? ? A pain in the tushy. I charge by the hour (an elevated hourly rate that compensates me for the pain and suffering as well as the mental trauma associated with this type of work). Same thing for square grands.? ? Terry Farrell? ? On Sep 9, 2009, at 4:03 AM, Rob McCall wrote:? ? > Greetings,? >? > I just wanted to share a first for me. I've heard many on the list > talk of birdcage actions, overdampers, etc. but I've never > experienced one... that is, until tonight.? >? > I had an evening appointment with a very important client. She's > very connected with the local music community and a recommendation > from her can go a long way towards enhancing my career. So, I > already felt a slight modicum of pressure.? >? > Anyway, I walk in and I find a beautiful black upright. It's away > from the windows and not under any vents. It looks well taken care > of. We chat and I find out this piano used to belong to a famous > opera singer from Germany. It was purchased by her grandmother and > eventually shipped from Germany over to the US and finally ends up > where I find it... So, I open the top lid, check the serial number > (75256) and find out it was built in 1908.? >? > When I removed the front panel, I'm sure I was screaming > internally. I'd just laid eyes on what I knew had to be the > notorious birdcage. It looked like prison bars to me. :-) I won't > go into too many details, but the piano tuned beautifully, other > than a few loose tuning pins that are just barely holding on at the > moment. We agreed to address these later... When I started tuning, > it was less than 3 cents off and it hadn't been tuned in about a year.? >? > I have a question... How the heck do you guys mute this thing? > Other than what I ended up doing which was to use a single mute and > work my way up (from the tenor break), and then down (below the > break). It seems like it was designed to make it as hard as possible > to reach anything other than the tuning pin. Any tips or techniques > will be welcomed with open arms.? >? > Well, the end result was that she ended up happy, the piano sounded > beautiful, and I needed a drink. :-)? >? > Here's a couple of photos of the Bluthner. It was really in > excellent condition. Ivory keys were all intact, too.? >? > Regards,? >? > Rob McCall? > Murrieta, CA? >? > <Bluthner.jpg>? >? > <Bluthner 2.jpg>? ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090909/d213bd3a/attachment.htm>
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