Who needs piano technicians?

[Farrell]

Hello David. I have a few thoughts on the topic. I am 46 years old and have
been tuning pianos since I was 43 years old, married, one child, but three
dogs (how about that! - been there, done that!). Seems like the same
ballpark. I took the Randy Potter course. I excelled in the repair and
regulating end of things, but have always struggled at the tuning end.
Tuning is perhaps the most important when starting out because that is what
you will get most calls on.

As far as piano density goes, I sure wondered that myself, but never figured
out how to get that info. I don't believe it exists. However, I believe the
more "culture & education" a given population has, the more pianos there
will be, i.e. a large metropolitan area will have more active pianos per
household than a rural area, or one that has an agricultural base or some
other base that might be viewed as non-cultured (hey - I'm from a farm town,
so I can say that!). A place that has a symphony, lots of art museums, good
professional business base, good universities (with music programs!) etc. is
what I mean by "culture & education".

For starting a business, an area that has a high population turnover is
good. I live just outside Tampa (a suburb) and the average home-owner stays
in the house for five years. So, on the average, every home gets a new owner
every five years. They don't have time to get to know their neighbors and
ask for a recommendation for an established tuner. They look in the Yellow
Pages and call. I get a lot of very good customers out of the Yellow Pages -
but I think it is because I live in a high turnover area. I lived in Detroit
for a while. My guess is that the Yellow Pages would not be a good source of
quality work in an area like that (industrial, not growing, etc.) I have no
need to "steal" customers from existing area techs. There are too many new
people moving in.

I also do free tunings four times per year on four pianos as a local music
teaching studio. It is the most prominant music store front in the area -
they do all the band instrument rentals for local schools. The deal is that
I tune their pianos regularly, and they send all the tuning inquires my way.
I get a lot of business from there. I was busy full time with almost as much
work as I could handle after one year (the period from six months after my
first tuning to 18 months after my first tuning saw over 300 service
appointments and two serious piano refurbishings).

Bottom line (in order of importance): Lots of easy business for a new tech =
Growing area + Transient Population + Culture

I'm happy to give you more info if you wish. For the real nitty-gritty,
perhaps going private email would be best. This is an absolutely WONDERFUL
profession for the person who can appreciate its finer points. Good luck!

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Weiss" <djweiss57@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 5:59 AM
Subject: Who needs piano technicians?


>
> Hello.  I just joined the list and was hoping I could get some advice.
>
> I am currently in the piano technology program at the University of
Western
> Ontario.  The program is ten months of tuning, repairing, regulating and
> rebuilding.  At the completion of the program I want to move somewhere on
> the East Coast of the US in order to be closer to my aging parents.
>
> I am searching for a good place to locate a piano technician business.
I've
> been using the internet to find the population and number of technicians
in
> a given area.  But I need one more statistic--is there any way to figure
out
> the "piano density" of an area?
>
> Furthermore, is this the best way to go about this search?  How have other
> people conducted such a search?  Has the journal done any articles on this
> subject?
>
> I would greatly appreciate advice or thoughts anyone has on the subject.
I
> should mention that I am 43 years old, married, with two children.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> David Weiss
> London, Ontario
> djweiss57@hotmail.com
>
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