Ralph, I know how you feel about customers who don't take good advice about tuning necessities. But there are some ways to make the point: Calculate the extra tuning you deem necessary for the first two years into your quote for the restringing job. Then the customer won't have the opportunity to weasel out of the later work. Occasionally I run into the situation in which a customer upgrades to a new piano. The change they encounter is in the same ball park as if they had their old piano restrung. The old piano held its tune pretty well. They got it tuned once a year, and it never sounded too bad in between tunings. They are in for a surprise with a brand new piano. I make it a point to educate them in advance. It's worth spending a little time with the customer to drive the point home. In addition to describing the process that will happen with new strings, I offer the PTG pamphlets "How often should my piano be serviced?" and "How should I take care of my piano?". I may throw in the bulletin "Humidity Control" as well. A more expensive instrument in the home often stimulates a more serious interest in humidity control. A newly-strung piano goes out of tune quickly, no matter what you think the reasons are, and you had better be prepared to make that clear to your customers. Bob Anderson Tucson, AZ
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