Stupefying Pitch Volatility

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 9/27/01 1:06:48 PM Central Daylight Time, 
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com (Farrell) writes:


> What does your post have to do with charging extra for a pitch change? If I 
> change the pitch (more than 5 or 10 cents) I charge for it. If I don't 
> change the pitch, I don't charge extra for it.

One part of the piano were *raised* about 30 cents (the bass), some parts 
raised or lowered less than 10 cents, the high treble lowered from well over 
100 cents to + 50 cents.  As I have often said, in this climate, there is no 
such thing as a one pass tuning, even for pianos which are tuned as much as 4 
times per year.

Tomorrow, I tune a piano in a theater which gets tuned several times a year.  
I feel lucky if I can get by with just two passes.  While I do charge extra 
for certain pitch raises, if I tried to charge everybody I tune for $120-150, 
the market here would not support that.

The house where the old 1887 Hinze upright resides has no air conditioning 
and oil heat, largely supplemented by the fireplace.  She has been informed 
about humidity control and the reason for the pitch volatility many times.  
The action needing tightening every few years points to extreme changes of 
humidity from high to low.  My guess is from 15-80% each and every year.

This is not the only piano which goes that sharpand flat.  There is a 
Wurlitzer console, solidly built with no structural problems and which gets 
tuned twice a year.  In mid August, I found the middle section to be about 60 
cents sharp (with the bass only about 10 cents sharp). I don't think all of 
the pianos around here have cracked plates and if they did, I would expect 
them to fully break under such a high pitch.

Yesterday, I tuned a choir room piano (a Yamaha P-22) which has a humidity 
control system but which the janitors unplugged for the summer (they always 
do, even if you put a sign on the piano telling them not to).  The teacher, 
who didn't know what that cord hanging out the back was for, complained of it 
needing tuning and "sticking keys".  Throughout the entire middle of the 
piano, the hammers were standing about 1/8" off the rail.  The pitch was +30 
cents.

I made an appointment to come back tomorrow to install a heavy duty extension 
cord, permanently attached from the inside, explained the function and care 
of the humidity control system.  I lightly glued in 3 from rail punchings to 
temporarily prop up the rest rail while the piano dries out.  I will remove 
those at the next tuning which will be in December.

I evened out the pitch at +12 and told the teacher "I fixed the sticking 
keys".  I said nothing about the pitch (and nothing about the temperament I 
use) but told her that it would need tuning again by December.

I can understand the desire to explain things to a customer but I have 
learned through the years that one can easily "fully inform" and "charge 
extra" oneself right out of business.  Very often, the less said, the better. 
 The customer goes by the results, the efficiency of service and whether the 
price seems reasonable.  Yes, there are times when explanations and 
presentations are called for but not every time and as far as I'm concerned, 
not most of the time.

"Informing" the choir teacher that the pitch was "left at +12 cents" may only 
cause her unnecessary worry.  After all, it won't last long at that pitch 
anyway.  It would only be misinformation.  More than likely, after such full 
disclosure, the next guy on the job would hear, "The last tuner said he tuned 
it off, he said something about the weather and I never heard that before so 
I thought I would try you".  Most freely offered printed materials are never 
read, they merely go into piles which the same janitors who unplug the piano 
throw out at the end of the school year.

As I said in the original post, "why bother?"

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin

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