<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2722" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol=
e_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 12/10/2005 10:57:14 A.M. Central Standard Time,
debra_feiger@yahoo.com writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=
=2>Hi List
members<BR>I am a new Caut user and a new piano tech for a<BR>university w=
ith
little to no shop inventory. The past<BR>few years they have hired
contract technicians and I<BR>am now a staff technician/employee (50%).&nb=
sp;
They have<BR>80 pianos, with 5 SS Ds, a number of Bs, and
Yamaha<BR>leased pianos, plus a hord of upright practice room<BR>pianos
(mostly Yamaha). They have a drill press in<BR>the shop and that is
it. They have asked me to<BR>prepare a prioritized list of items to
purchase in<BR>order to have the beginnings of a shop. I have no<BR>=
idea
whether I will get much of what I request, but I<BR>would appreciate input=
as
to how to prioritize what is<BR>needed for a university environment to get=
things<BR>going. They have an active concert schedule and alot<BR>of=
modern experimentaly music, so I know that strings<BR>are a must. I =
have
my own tools, but is it reasonable<BR>to request duplicates for the shop,
especially since I<BR>am only 50% and will be doing outside work as well
as<BR>working for the local Steinway/Yamaha dealer? Thanks<BR>for an=
y
input. I need to submit this prioritized<BR>'wish list' next week.
<BR>Best<BR>Debra<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Debra</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Welcome to the list. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When I first started in the this business, I asked my dad, who was also=
a
piano tuner, what tools I should buy. He said buy what you need, when you ne=
ed
it. That not only spreads out the expense, but also got me the tools I neede=
d
for my skill level. No sense buying a soundbaord shimming tool when you=
're
never going to shim a soundbaord. Even at that, you're going to wind up buyi=
ng a
tool that you will only use once every 10 years. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I realize the school wants you to come up with a list. Perhaps you can =
ask
for a budget for the next 3 or 4 years, which allows you to buy what you nee=
d,
when you need it. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But an even greater problem I see here is not with inventory of
tools, but with the position itself. A school with 80 pianos needs =
;one
full time position, not one part time piano tuner.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wim
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"=
>Willem Blees
RPT<BR>Piano Tuner/Technician<BR>School of Music<BR>University of
Alabama</FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>