registered piano technician

[Porritt, David]

Duaine:

I understand well the difficulty of balancing work, family, marketing
etc. that we all have to do.  But, I hope my doctor or my dentist, or my
CPA or my....... don't take the mindset you outlined below.  In every
profession there is the need to study to maintain your skill set.  I
think the general public expects that we keep up with our craft

dave

David M. Porritt
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Hechler Family
Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 9:39 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: registered piano technician

SO.....RPT tests are all well and good BUT what about being a piano tech
AND a pneumatic player piano technician (rebuilding, that is) AND a reed
organ technician (again rebuilding)

Here in St. Louis, MO, there are only a few pneumatic player techs left
and most of them are retired and want to stay retired. A few years ago,
we lost a 30+ year player tech (I even knew him well and bought many,
nearly 100 rolls from him and his shop) and being a player piano fanatic
since childhood, I decided to add pneumatic player rebuilding to my
services. I've learned a lot along the way, one of which, what suppliers
NOT to buy from.

And fewer reed organ technicians - but I digress ....

Anyway, my point is, RPT testing is only half the battle of the piano
tech when it comes to dealing with a pneumatic player.

Plus, where is the RPT equivalent to rebuilding an antique reed organ -
of which I half done about 12 for customers.

Since the guild seems, IMHO, to be geared to grands and -most- think the
lesser of uprights and even lesser than that of players ... where in the
guild is there an RPT status for pneumatic player technicians.

For those of you out there that know, being a pneumatic player tech
-along- with having a family and responsibilities - there is virtually
NO time to study for the tests, let alone wanting to pass only half of
the puzzle (the piano side, leaving out the player side).

Respectfully, Duaine

-- 
Duaine Hechler
Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ
Tuning, Servicing & Rebuilding
Associate Member of the Piano Technicians Guild
Reed Organ Society Member
St. Louis, MO 63034
(314) 838-5587
dahechler at charter.net
www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com