Pitch Raise Pricing

[J Patrick Draine]

Well, for starters I charge more than your hypothetical standard tuning
rate. Here in temperate New England (bone dry in the winter, houses
frequently overheated; humid summers with open windows delivering plenty of
humidity and the occasional breeze) there's ALWAYS a pitch adjustment,
whether the piano was tuned 6 months ago or ten years ago.Having tuned for
30 years, and accumulated various chronic tendonitis type maladies as a
result (shoulder, elbow, wrist, thumbs, etc.), I make no attempt at being
the "fastest tuner in town", and expect that a normal tuning appointment
will take 1.5 hours. That 1.5 hr. will include a half hour pitch adjustment
followed by a 1 hr. fine tuning. If the piano's near proper pitch I should
be able to make some minor action adjustments (hammer spacing, lost motion)
in the alloted time.
IF this is someone calling, inquiring as to "how much is a tuning" I explain
the "basic tuning" is $XXX for the first 1.5 hr., and $YY for subsequent
hours for any pitch adjustment, repair, or action regulation. They either
say "OK when can you be here" or "umm well I'm just calling around to get an
idea how much a tuning will cost maybe I'll call back later".
Extra time for pitch adjustments etc.on performance instruments (concert
hall, school auditorium, church sanctuary, etc.) are billed appropriately
(while I tend to be overly generous with John Q. Public customers).
Typically a first John Q. Public appointment will take 2.5 hr. (50 to 100
cent pitch raise), and include some essential action adjustments, and
estimates for future improvements.
YMMV,
Patrick Draine

On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Matthew Todd <toddpianoworks at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> How much do you normally charge for a pitch raise?  Do you base the price
> off of your regular tuning rate?  Say you charge $100 for a standard
> tuning.  Would you say a pitch raise would be half of the tuning rate, or
> more?
>
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