How 'bout the inconsiderate, neanderthal bozos who scrawl their pathetic monographs on the plate, near the pins, with pencil that scratches or with indelible marker! (I have no strong feelings about this.) Alan Barnard Salem, MO Joshua 24:15 Original message From: "David Porritt" To: "Pianotech List" Received: 02/24/2007 11:36:47 AM Subject: RE: Am I the last 'signer'?? 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/20070224/4fbed2e0/attachment.html
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