Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)

[Farrell]

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"Concert pianos on stages and console pianos in living rooms are not the =
same=20
kinds of instruments.  I know, for example that when I am going to tune =
a=20
Steinway grand in someone's home, the time I spend will be much more, =
maybe=20
even double."

Is that because a Steinway grand is harder to tune? Do you charge 50% =
for the console? I don't understand your policy here. Please clarify. If =
my auto mechanic did a significantly better tune-up on my neighbor's new =
Lexus than on my 18-year-old car, I would not be happy with him/her at =
all. Is this what is going on here?

Terry Farrell =20
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Billbrpt@AOL.COM=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 1:58 PM
  Subject: Re: Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)





    A tuner who does a cheap job in an hour or so, may well leave the =
piano=20
    sounding quite good, but in all probability it will deteriorate =
within a=20
    few hours, days or weeks.


  I copied this phrase from the website it was suggested to visit.  That =
is=20
  precisely my point about presenting the EBVT or any other tuning at =
the=20
  Convention.  45 minutes is just enough time to set oneself up to =
ridicule.  =20
  Any of the tunings I did for the Baldwin recitals took 6-8 hours.  I =
lost=20
  track of the many hours I put in on the Walter piano on which the EBVT =
was=20
  presented at the Convention in Providence.=20

  Even in the response article I wrote about this event, I conceded that =

  perhaps I was the "winner" of the event more because I had the best =
sounding=20
  piano and had spent many, many hours tuning it before I had it locked =
in to=20
  the program I had designed for it, each of the 88 notes accurate to =
within=20
  1/1000 of a semitone.  And certainly, there were those who were =
disturbed by=20
  and questioned my hours of relentless pounding.=20

  Yet, it's true that the ordinary, every day tunings I do usually take =
less=20
  than an hour.  Many of my customers are repeat customers for whom I =
have=20
  tuned for many years.  It simply doesn't take any longer than that and =
their=20
  pianos also meet a very high degree of perfection in tuning, well =
beyond the=20
  standards of the PTG Tuning Exam.=20

  Concert pianos on stages and console pianos in living rooms are not =
the same=20
  kinds of instruments.  I know, for example that when I am going to =
tune a=20
  Steinway grand in someone's home, the time I spend will be much more, =
maybe=20
  even double. Time spent on any particular tuning is all relative to =
the=20
  circumstances.=20

  Tomorrow, I will go to the Frank Lloyd Wright estate to tune for the =
concert=20
  series going on there now.  It will take me about 30 minutes to tune =
the 9=20
  foot Bechstein grand.  I know that because that's all the time it has =
taken=20
  me for several years now but each note will be solidly locked on the =
program=20
  I designed for that piano some 10 years ago.  Then I have to tune the=20
  harpsichord, (and that will probably take twice the time) then make =
the 35=20
  mile trip to meet my call as a principal singer and actor in the =
Bernstein=20
  show, On The Town.  Making the costume change from the first scene to =
the=20
  next one I'm in takes about the same amount of time that it takes to =
tune the=20
  Bechstein.=20

  As it turns out, the concert tuning I will do on the 9 foot Bechstein =
will=20
  take the very least amount of time of all the activities I will do =
that day,=20
  including showering and shaving.=20

  Bill Bremmer RPT=20
  Madison, Wisconsin=20

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