Different Cultures/Foreign Techs.

[S. Brady]

On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 EugeniaCar@aol.com wrote:

> From my observations of this list, we have two basic approaches. One is the
> service oriented appointment that I first learned from LaRoy Edwards. Using
> this approach the tech spends an specific amount of time, for example 2
> hours, tunes and then spends the remainder of the allocated time regulating
> and/or repairing. The charge for this service is considerably more than just
> a tuning. I believe Steve Brady uses this approach and could shed more light
> on it for us.

	Yes, I use what I call the "full-service" approach. The way I do
it is to approach each service call without making the initial assumption
that the piano needs to be tuned. I play it, I talk to the client, I
analyze the piano's needs, and then proceed to work on the instrument by
attacking the most noticeable problem first. My normal service call runs
about 1.5 hours, and I charge $105 (but am thinking a raise is due the
first of the year). If I reach the end of the 1.5 hours and feel that the
piano needs more work, I explain this and try to schedule a follow-up call
right then. The customers are usually so pleased with the results of the
first 1.5 hours (because, by concentrating on the most obvious things
first, I'm making the most dramatic improvement) that they are happy to
let me take the piano as far as I can in terms of further refinement.
	So, on one piano I might start by raising the hammer line, fixing
the squeaky pedal, and lubricating the key pins, followed by a very quick
tuning, while on another piano I might start with a thorough tuning,
sugar-coat the hammers, and then clean the soundboard and plate. It just
depends on what the piano needs to bring it as close as possible to my (or
the client's) idea of what it should be.
	Small to medium pitch raises are usually doable as part of the
standard service call, and if a string breaks during a tuning, I can
usually fix that as part of the standard service call, without having to
haggle over charging them extra.  



Steve Brady, RPT		 
University of Washington
Seattle, WA