voicing new hammers

[Kdivad@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Sun, 11 Aug 2002 9:39:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:

> 
> 
> I don't know David, you kind of lost me on your point, and I think you
> missed mine on the MacDonald's this  I never suggested the tech did
> something wrong by not voicing them.  As I mentioned in an earlier post,
> it's their piano and they have to play it so make them happy.  I have left
> hammers alone on many occasions when I thought attention was needed but the
> customer said they liked it as it was.  But think of it this way.  You take
> your car in because it's running like sh--.  The mechanic changes the points
> and plugs and let's you start it up.  It runs a hell of a lot better than it
> did before and you are thrilled.  He says, "well do you want me to set the
> timing".  You say, "hell no, it's running great now, why fu--, with it".
> Should he say okay and let you drive it out?  Or should he try and explain
> the importance of setting the timing?  Personally, I'd rather he just did
> what was considered a necessary part of the job.  That is, unless he didn't
> know how to set the timing.  Then I guess I'd rather he left it alone but
> tell me about it so I could decide if I wanted to have someone else set the
> timing.
> 
> By the way, In 'n Out burgers are definitely better than MacDonalds, but
> then there's no accounting for taste.
> 
> David Love
> 


David, thanks for your reply, I am a little puzzled though because when reading your original post I definitly got the impression that you thought the technician did do something wrong.  I believe you said that "you couldn't see any reason for leaving a Renner/Abel hammer unresilient or a Steinway hammer to soft."  I believe one valid reason is that the customer prefered the hammer just the way it sounded, unvoiced. Your example about the mechanic also gave me the impression that you felt the tech did something wrong by not voicing, even against the owners wishes. Let me use your mechanic scenario, suppose an owner takes his car to you for a tune up. You finish everything but setting the timing and he shows up.  While his car is sitting there idling a little rough he responds, "man that is just what I am looking for, it sounds like I have a high performance cam in it!!"  You try to explain that the job is not done but he hears nothing.  Should you let him drive away?  Of course you should (if the car is safe to drive).  The most you can do is monitor the situation down the road. 

OK, you got me with the burgers.

David Koelzer
Vintage Pianos
DFW