I was wondering, on the institutional level; what is the average cost/piano tuning. Being an independent contractor working for a school with 22 pianos, I charge $40/piano tuning with technical work billed at $40/hr. This tuning price is for bulk maintenance, concert or singular tunings are/may be bill at a higher rate, especially on Sunday. Of the other tuners in the area and the few newbies, I asked for assistance with the tuning but they wouldn't think of tuning for less than $60, and this was a few years ago when I was 35 / piano. One newbie even refused floor tunings for a dealer for the $35 price, go figure. I bumped it up to 40 this year.(at 35, that was still an hourly rate of 40; so now it's per piano or per hour. Now when I tune 5 in four hours; they actually get a break. Even though it's less money than last year for say 5 pianos (35 x 5 = 175 as opposed to 40/hr x 4 = 160) the use of the VT has made it that much easier. Another aspect which I had been trying to get through the old administration was a maintenance budget. But their policy was to fix only what is broken to keep it working. The new director this year is different. On my first meeting with him I proposed a budget and he immediately granted a $6k/yr discretionary budget dispersed at $500/mo. Now I can do things as I see fit to keep things above minimal :-) Rebuilding is billed separately. It's a pretty good gig. Jon Page
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