why sell maintenance the customer won't notice?

[Porritt, David]

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Dave:
=20
I've been very aware of this for a long time.  Many years ago a local =
Music Teachers Association thought their piano might need regulating and =
asked me about it.  I was the one who usually tuned their piano.  The =
regulation needed fell into the category you mention below.  I told them =
I thought they could wait as it wasn't that bad.  One teacher was quite =
insistent that regulation was needed and talked them into getting =
another technician to regulate it.  When he was done and they paid the =
bill, they were upset that they couldn't tell any difference.  Since =
that time I've been very careful about how I approach this kind of work. =
 If the needed work will prevent future wear I'll liken it to changing =
the oil on your car.  You won't notice much, but the car will. =20
=20
dave
=20
__________________________
David M. Porritt, RPT
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
dporritt@mail.smu.edu

________________________________

From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org on behalf of Dave Nereson
Sent: Sat 12/25/2004 2:23 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: why sell maintenance the customer won't notice?




    Tuned a medium-quality console that was 25 or 30 years old and had =
had
minimal use.  While tuning along, I noticed that it could use vacuuming =
and
a light hammer filing, but not terribly.  There was a bit too much lost
motion, but not enough to bother most players.  Several hammers weren't
quite aligned to the center of the unisons, but were still striking all
three strings.  I'm sure the keys weren't perfectly level, nor the dip
nicely uniform, and from its age and length of time without tuning, I'm =
sure
all the flange screws needed tightening, along with plate screws and all
other screws.  Oh, and there were a few strings in the treble that maybe
needed seating on the bridge or maybe their bridge pins tapped in (false
beats).  And I imagine that the let-off was a bit wide.  But it played
nicely and had a decent, acceptable tone and sustain.
    Nevertheless, I thought I should point out to the owner what work =
the
piano could use in addition to tuning to put it in top shape.  So I
explained all the above-mentioned items, that it was 30 years old and no
piano goes that long without needing at least some routine maintenance,  =
and
that it would cost a few hundred dollars to do a complete job.
    She replied, "What would I notice?"
    And you know, in all honesty, I had to reply, "Well, maybe not =
much."
The tone might be a LITTLE rounder after hammer filing, or it might be =
too
bright and need subsequent voicing down.  The tone was pretty nice as it
was.  She MIGHT notice that the action was a tiny bit more responsive =
(no
lost motion, closer let-off) IF she was a fairly advanced player, which =
she
was not.  But vacuuming, tightening plate and flange screws, seating =
strings
or bridge pins, de-traveling "wandering" shanks, regulating dip . . . I
doubt she or most average casual players would notice any change.  (I
already tuned it).
    Now, with much older pianos where the hammers are extremely worn and =
the
action is extremely out of regulation, or when the hammers badly need
voicing, often the difference after reconditioning is dramatic.  And
sometimes the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, that is, they
might not notice this or that item, but all together, the reconditioning
improves the sound and touch of the instrument.  But in this case, I had =
a
hard time selling the job to even myself.
    Whatta ya do in these cases?  Just leave it?  Wait until it's =
"pretty
bad" before you work on it?  Why should they spend $300 or more if the =
piano
will feel and sound about the same as it did before?  It doesn't =
increase
the value all that much.  It does prevent things from getting worse, I
guess, but in this case, I think the piano would be about the same,
regulation-wise, in 5 or even 10 years from now, with its very casual =
use,
since it's been "about the same"  for the LAST 5 or 10 years.
    --David Nereson, RPT




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