Birdcage

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 10/13/98 12:31:34 PM Central Daylight Time,
lessmith@buffnet.net writes:

<< Birdcages are for the birds, NOT piano tuners. Instead of the damper
 mechanism  (snip)
  
 My advice is to forget about birdcage pianos altogether. They are a
 waste of the tuner's time and talents, when he could-- and should-- be
 working on something more meaningful, more worthwhile, and more relevant
 to his profession as a technician who tunes and services "modern" pianos
 built in the last century, or so.  Leave birdcages to the birds.
 
 Les Smith   >>

Elliot,

This answer belongs on Ralph's Loser List for the Baloney Bunch to read.
  

The first thing to do is to call the customer back and tell him/her that you
will be delighted to service the piano.  Being that it is not a modern piano
and of an unusual design, you need to inform the customer that extra time will
be involved and therefore a higher than usual fee will be charged.


You can easily get twice your usual fee.  If the customer balks at that, tell
him/her to call you back if he/she reconsiders.

There is a trick to tuning these instruments.  You must have a good Electronic
Tuning Device. Tilt the  action back and "chip tune" the piano (pluck the
strings).

This approach will not give you as good and solid of a tuning as with test
blows but to this customer, *any* tuning is better than no tuning.  Also, do
not be concerned about Standard Pitch if the pitch is very low.  Do whatever
the piano itself will be able to handle.
If the piano is untunable because of loose tuning pins or other structural
failure, take a good long time to diagnose the problem and explain it to the
customer.  You should still get at least your usual fee or more for this
service.

I fully expect an outrageous and indignant reaction to my advice. Any of the
people that would be quick to condemn my remarks however should be prepared to
offer you the "something more meaningful, more worthwhile, and more relevant
 to his profession" that Les says you should have.  Failing that, call the
customer and go get the money (not to mention pleasing the customer and doing
what a piano technician does for a living).

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin