ears vs. eyes..kinda long-winded

[David Love]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
There is another aspect to this debate worth mentioning.  I spent the =
first 20+ years  as a strictly aural tuner.  A few years ago I decided =
to buy an Accutuner mostly for use in institutional work where I needed =
to tune as many pianos as possible quickly and stress free.  More =
recently I purchased a Verituner.  During the period when I was tuning =
aurally I think I was a very competent tuner, did lots of concert work, =
and wasn't slow by any means.  Since going to ETD's I have found that on =
average, I can tune more quickly and more accurately.  Under the right =
circumstances, good piano, good concentration (beginning of the day) I =
could probably rival the speed and accuracy of my ETD tuning.  But =
overall, through the entire day, different kinds of pianos, different =
levels of concentration, I can without a doubt deliver more consistent =
and faster tunings with an ETD.   I'm not sure (if people are being =
honest) how it could be otherwise. =20

Since my fees are based on time, and I can complete the task more =
quickly, I am, in effect, earning more money.  The 5th tuning I do in a =
day is more likely to be of the same high quality as the 1st tuning of =
the day and the stress I feel from that kind of schedule is greatly =
diminished.  Moreover, as far as the customer is concerned, I can =
actually complete a few additional tasks within the same time period =
that I generally took for an aural tuning (which is, in fact, what I =
do).  Thus, the customer benefits because I can include a few items in a =
regular service that were more difficult before because the average time =
spent tuning prohibited that without either an extra charge or loss =
revenue.   I benefit from having done a more thorough job on the piano, =
the customer loves me and refers me to all their friends, and after =
tuning five pianos in a day, I can still come home and have a coherent =
conversation with my wife.

It's not only difficult to give up these benefits, the bigger question =
might be is it really fair to the customer to insist on tuning aurally =
when you could deliver just as good (perhaps better) of a tuning and =
more in the same amount of time and, presumably then, for the same =
price?

For me, the answer seems obvious.

David Love


----- Original Message -----=20
  From: HazenBannister@cs.com=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: October 24, 2002 5:10 AM
  Subject: Re: ears vs. eyes..kinda long-winded


  In a message dated 10/24/2002 3:08:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, =
bigda@gte.net writes:=20



    and I've followed up on some really good EDT users, some=20
    famous, at least regionally so.=20



  Hi,=20
  I have no doubt,that you are probably an extremely talented aural =
tuner.But,as you have said above,I also have followed aural tuners in my =
region,with a notable reputation,that really need to borrow my Accutuner =
for a few days.=20
  Best,=20
  Hazen Bannister=20

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/88/b2/73/4d/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--