Tuning in public places.

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

For your entertainment,
I recently tuned a Kohler & Campbell with a Samick scale plate and 
all single strung for the headquarters of the Laredo National 
Bank.  This is in a glassed over lobby (sunny in the AM) and business 
happens all around it.  There are lots of people going back and forth 
so I put my business cards on the lid while I was tuning (half of 
them gone afterwards).  The piano was not tuned in a long time, 
probably not since the dealer delivery tuning.  There were regulation 
problems and a broken hammer to boot.

What was amusing is how people reacted to the work in progress.  I 
hold a thumper in my fist and test often when pitch 
correcting.  People would stop and stare.  I use a VT100, especially 
when pitch correcting, which they found very fascinating  (got 
another job because of that).

The security guards liked to relieve their boredom by coming over and 
striking up conversations.  I can talk while thumping if they can 
too. ;-)  One bank exec. type simply couldn't wait and when I was 
about a third of the way through my second pass said, "Don't mind 
me," sat down beside me and started playing the first movement to 
Beethovan's 'Moonlight' sonata.  At which point I did stop thumping. :-D

Five hours, three & 1/2 passes and damper easing, lube and sostuneto 
regulation later the piano sounded OK for a Samick.

This one has a PianoDisc system on it.  Any special considerations 
for regulating one of these? other than the annoyance of having to 
lift over the player fingers?  Any way to lower those finger while 
working on it?  It needs voicing too and that would be a real pain 
going in and out a lot like I do.

Chilling in, in Texas,
Andrew