Newbie Question - Strings

[Farrell]

I have a few questions regarding this post. I'm not trying to say you are wrong, but your policies do seem different from mine, and I am trying to understand.

If a treble string breaks during tuning, you don't charge for replacing it? If 5 minutes you can let the home owner know you are exiting the house, walk out to your vehicle, get your strings and tools, walk back in home, get out needed tools, measure wire size, etc., etc.? What about hard-to-access string locations - like somewhere around A6 on a spinet? What about bass strings? 

It appears that you will charge a fee after the first string. For how much time do you charge? 5 minutes? For a fee of (hourly rate) x (5/60)? I charge $60 per hour for repairs, that would work out to $5 per string. Or would it be less because you already have your tools out? Both Joe Garrett's and Newton Hunt's labor guides indicate that an appropriate time for an experienced tech is 1/2 hour to replace a simple treble string, and tad longer for difficult access, and an hour to replace the first bass string, and a 1/2 hour for each one after that.

Obviously, if I am dreaming about sailing in the Bahamas while doing a pitch raise and I break a string because I ran it two steps sharp, the owner gets a string at no charge. But if a string breaks through no fault of mine, first they get informed, and then, assuming they want it replaced, they get charged.

Or am I missing something here?

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith Roberts" <kpiano@goldrush.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2003 3:02 AM
Subject: Re: Newbie Question - Strings


> That's the way I look at it, we offer a service and if we are not prepared,
> we look incompetent. Of course there are techs out there that have never
> broken a string. They may have had a few worn out, rusty strings break while
> they were tuning a piano, but they didn't break it. Even so, we look bad if
> we can't fix it then and there. I don't say a word if one breaks, I just go
> get the right size wire and put it in. I can be tuning again in 5 minutes.
> Now if another string breaks...... of course after the first one popping,
> I'm gun shy and 10 times more careful, I inform the client of the problem
> with their piano and there will be an extra charge. After seeing that it
> didn't take long to fix the first one, it doesn't worry them so much. I
> haven't needed anything more than what is in the Shaff kit in 2 1/2 years. I
> really haven't had that many break on me and have used as much wire fixing
> ones that were broke when I got there.
> My guess as to why they skip 1/2 sizes in size sixteen and up is that
> stringing scales change sizes in whole steps in the tenor range, but that's
> a wild guess. You definitely won't break many in that area of the piano.
> Keith R
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Charles Neuman" <piano@charlesneuman.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2003 4:42 PM
> Subject: Re: Newbie Question - Strings
> 
> 
> > stringing, it seems that either you can offer that service or you can't. I
> > imagine if you say to a customer, "I'll come back in a week with a string"
> > then you've lost the job, or at least made yourself look bad. So I'm
> > trying to determine what I would need, without buying too much stuff.
> >
> > Charles Neuman
> > PTG Assoc.
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> >
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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