Am I the last 'signer'??

[David Porritt]

I've never written in a piano though for a long time I thought of it as a
benign practice.  Then one day a customer passed by me as I was tuning and
she noticed the writing of a previous tech.  She was incensed that someone
would "write in my piano".  

 

dp

 

____________________

David M. Porritt, RPT

dporritt at smu.edu

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Marshall Connolly
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 10:06 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Am I the last 'signer'??

 

Hi list members!

 

I've been following the thread about the "message" in the wurly.  I've been
tuning and rebuilding for 25+ years, and when apprenticing, my mentor told
me that "dating and initialing tunings" was a good idea.  When I asked why,
he said that if a customer moves, or a new tuner/tech. is called to work on
the piano, it's the only way for the tuner/tech. to know, with any
certainty, the last service call you could be sure of.  

 

Every time I receive a service call from a new customer, I ask how long it
has been since the piano was last serviced. The majority of the time, they
can't remember, are guessing, or have no idea (most don't save receipts,
either!).  I usually look for this "hidden" information (dates, initials,
etc.) before I ever touch the first key- and then run my hands over the
keys-using the combination of the audible results and this info. to justify
my recommendation for a pitch adjustment (in most cases) and point out to
the (new) customer the last confirmed service the instrument (or PSO) had
received.  

 

Most people are excited about their pianos' "history".  In some way, it
seems to give them a more vested interest in their piano-- they know  the
piano more intimately, and usually make a 'connection' with the tuner/tech.
who enlightens them to what's hidden inside.  How many times has a customer
exclaimed:  "WOW! I've never seen the inside of a piano.  I didn't realize
that there was so much in there!!!"

 

What happens with the family that bought the piano at an estate sale/ used
and know NOTHING about the history of their purchase?  It's always been a
positive selling point, at least in my experience.

 

Here in MA, I've rarely seen a piano that didn't have numerous 'penciled-in
dates', initials, return address labels, PTG service labels and the like
(excluding college and university instruments).  I tune for a local
theater/performing arts center that has so many dates in their 1902 S&S "B"
that the plate looks like some graffiti artist has had their way with it.
I've even had customers ask if I had remembered to "sign" the tuning.  

 

I always initial and date tunings because I believe that it's helpful to
another tuner/tech. if the piano moves, but more over, I take pride in my
skills and profession, and would never put my name or initials on anything
that was less than 100% - or at least the best that could be achieved on
even a marginal PSO. Besides, the likelihood is that no one except the piano
tuner/tech. will ever see this information- hence, in most cases, nothing
unsightly to the eye.  On newly rebuilt instruments, I provide a service
folder with records in the bench... wouldn't want to mark up a newly
re-bronzed plate!!!

 

Just some thoughts.  Care to share your experiences in this area?

 

Marshall Connolly, Jr.

New Bedford, MA

falcone1132 at tmlp.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070224/09b8eb8f/attachment-0001.html