[CAUT] Reality check...Big Time!

Delwin D Fandrich del at fandrichpiano.com
Fri Dec 10 19:05:00 MST 2010


Oh, don't complain-either one of you! 

 

For reasons I can only speculate over my wife arranged for me to tune a
piano for a woman in a nearby assisted-care facility. Turned out to be a
Kimball spinet built in the mid-1970s. When I asked when it had last been
tuned the owner, now in her eighties, said it was tuned just after it was
delivered. Thinking she must have misunderstood my question I repeated it a
different way. No, turns out she understood me quite well; the piano had
been tuned right after it was purchased and, since the salesman had told her
some story about how the soundboard (or something) didn't move in this piano
it would never need tuning. But lately she'd been wondering about that since
it hasn't been sounding quite right the last couple of years. 

 

This was only the second piano I've ever tuned that was well over a full
step flat-the middle was down a full step and a half. Sigh.

 

ddf

 

Delwin D Fandrich

Piano Design & Fabrication

620 South Tower Avenue

Centralia, Washington 98531 USA

del at fandrichpiano.com

ddfandrich at gmail.com
Phone  360.736.7563

 

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Keith
Kopp
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 2:42 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Reality check...Big Time!

 

Oh how I wish I could say this type of thing has not happened to me. My
horror story this week is the call from the party that bought a square grand
from us a couple of years ago. Please don't ask why we had it. I had hoped
it had disappeared forever. Now it needs a tuning and guess who they called?
We sold it so obviously we should be excited about tuning it.

 

Keith

 

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul T
Williams
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 3:28 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] Reality check...Big Time!

 

Wow, after going to one of our Vise Chancellors house today for a private
tuning, I'm really glad to have my job in the School of Music.  I forgot
just how ugly Whitney spinets are especially when not tuned for many years
(in Nebraska weather).  The chancellors wife "thought" maybe it had been 4
or 5 years since tuning, but a quick check on the tuning fork says over 1/2
step flat! I remember my mentor, Steve Brady, saying if the customer can't
remember how long it's been, double what they say!! :>( 

  Every key rattles and buzzes and plays like garbage!!  Since it is for a
Univ. party with our Dean playing, I agreed to just tune it for my usual
discounted faculty fee.  Really bad idea!  I left the shop at 12:30 and here
it is, 4:30 just back!!  Why oh why did I get myself into this one. All I
did was quick PR and tune and fill follow up with a warning to the Dean! 

I now remember how horrible spinets are and won't tune one again, unless I'm
laid off and have to go back to the self employed status.  Even makes our
icky 1098's look pretty nice! 

How spoiled we get with a decent inventory that are all kept up! 

Remember this you folks! 

Paul 

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