It's best to explain the potential about pitch correction on the phone before the appointment and not wait until you are at the appointment to broach the subject. Or build in the fee for pitch corrections into the first appointment fee (which is what I do). If people tune the pianos regularly (at least once a year) after that I don't charge for a pitch correction. If I find on subsequent appointments that the environment is producing really bad pitch swings then I tell them that they will need to install a humidity control system or I will have to charge for pitch corrections at each tuning. More than a factor of time spent, however, it's a matter of tuning stability and the perceived quality of work that concerns me. Large pitch raises tend to create more instability in the tuning and it can be viewed as a reflection on the quality of your work rather than a problem with the piano or the environment. That should be explained as well. If you use the full service appointment method then pitch corrections are not an issue since it will be covered by the appointment fee. If I lived in the Midwest or East coast where major pitch swings are a way of life I would probably try and structure my fees around a full service appointment in which pitch raises were incorporated into the fee for pianos that didn't have humidity control. In California the humidity swings are much more benign and I often come to pianos after a year that are still very close to where I left them. Having an electronic way to demonstrate pitch swings can be useful but for those who don't understand what cents or spinning dials mean, in practice, it's still a lengthy explanation. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Groot Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 5:15 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org; l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net Subject: Re: [pianotech] justify pitch raise Pretty simple really. Strike middle C or what tuning fork you use, place it on the piano so it resonates, play the same note on the piano so they can hear that it's 1 key flat or whatever it happens to be lifting the fork up and down a couple of times, makes a bigger impression that way and then explain how it has roughly 20 tons of tension on the strings up to pitch and that much of our time is spent raising pitch on it. From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Sowers Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 1:56 AM To: l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net; pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] justify pitch raise I used to carry around a needle type guitar tuner for showing client's pitch. This was a tip I got once from Isaac Sadigursky. However I haven't bothered for many years. I don't recall ever having to justify raising pitch. We explain to people on the phone that the SERVICING (notice not tuning) will be X amount of dollars for a 2-hour appointment. This will include raising the piano to standard pitch if necessary, and depending on time may include some minor cleaning, regulating and/or voicing. We then tell them if the piano has been well maintained it could be lower, but I won't know until I see the piano. An idea I got recently from L.A. Tech Carl Lieberman. When we quote our prices over the phone we quote the maximum price first - since this is what people are most likely to remember. Then they can be plesantly surprised if the piano doesn't require as much time. We usually prepare people for the 2 hour appointment if they are a first time customer. On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 10:25 PM, Leslie Bartlett <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net> wrote: I tuned for a first time customer today,a piano teacher who said her Kawai G3 had been regularly tuned (6-months) for years, and then missed a year because the technician retired. Unfortunately the piano was a disaster. In Tunelab I could save all the overpull measurements and show the lady (a masters degreed teacher) each note and it's relation to "0 cents". Seeing the mess, she understood immediately because she had a visual reference to justify my contention. But she was in agreement that had I just walked in,and said "you need to pay me for a pitch raise", she would have been less than sympathetic. My question is "How do the strictly aural tuners justify or "prove" a need for serious pitch raise, convincing people of the veracity of the claim?" It seems with no measurable reference which provides some kind of proof other than opinion, could be very problematic. Opinions please. Thanks les bartlett -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 090402-1, 04/02/2009 Tested on: 4/3/2009 8:15:07 AM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090403/3d5d6f31/attachment-0001.html>
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