This also brings us back around to the concept of "floating pitch". Here in Ohio, like much of the country, the seasonal change is considerable and constant. If my clients are unwilling or unable to control the humidity level in the piano (or have me tune every week), most are willing to accept my practice of tuning slightly sharp in the summer and flat in the winter. I explain this to them as "average A440", and it results in the piano being closer to pitch over time than if I was chasing A440 through the seasons. I usually don't charge for pitch changes unless it's around a quarter-step or more off. Kerry Kean Kent, Ohio -----Original Message----- From: Gerald Groot [mailto:tunerboy3 at comcast.net] Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 9:49 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] justify pitch raise Not to try and start something or anything but, in my opinion, if it takes 45 minutes to do a one pass pitch raise and that's kind of what I'm gather from reading below, maybe I'm wrong here, that's far to long. 10- 15 minutes tops. That leaves the other 45 minutes for fine tuning. For my college work, I need to always make 2 passes because of our constant climate change here in Michigan but, I am always done with it within 45 minutes to an hour depending on the piano. Concert work is different. That takes longer but, I also charge more for it too. It's a matter of training our clients of what I will accept not, IMO, what they will accept. -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ron Nossaman Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 1:19 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] justify pitch raise David Love wrote: > I agree, 8 cents is too much to expect that the piano won't have some > wobblies somewhere. Three to four cents is my general limit and even then > that's pushing it (although I have been known to push it on > occasion...shhh). Plate flexing makes the most sense otherwise on a board > where you've pushed the crown through to negative wouldn't letting off the > tension raise the pitch :-)? Kidding of course (before anyone takes me > seriously). > > David Love Actually, I meant the other way. I don't have a clientèle that will tolerate two pitch correction fees a year no matter how wretched their climate control is. Schools, churches, or individuals, I need to be able to satisfy them (not me, or some established testing criteria) in one pass for a standard tuning price - or in the case of a couple of universities, a reduced price. That means the best shot in one pass in 45 minutes to 60 minutes for the private tuning, to 35-50 minutes for university bulk work. Trying to do concert level work in these instances is like doing ice sculpture in a desert sandstorm, and these people know this. For the most part, they've tried plenty of other tuners, and settled on me because I can do what for them is an acceptable (or better) tuning in minimum time at a price that's higher than they've paid anyone else, when no one else has met the standards at any price they've been willing to test. It's value for the money. I can't pack sand up the administration's collective, uh, canyon, and try to convince them that paying for pitch adjustments will net them a significantly better tuning for more than the time it takes to flush the excess sand from the canyon. They've seen the pianos go out of tune by Tuesday, if they ever were in any semblance of tune in the first place, and aren't impressed by a dog and pony shows from the other guys. If the piano was last tuned at 75%RH, and it's not (momentarily) 23%RH, I'll give it my best shot one pass, and they'll either understand and appreciate it, or pay me to perpetually and futilely do multiple pass pitch corrections. I won't do multiple passes without pay for the time and equipment wear. So far, they've been *thrilled* with the results, for between 10 and 20 years respectively. A first tuning for a new client, I'll do, and charge for, the pitch raise to get the piano into the loop. After that, we'll find the balance between climate control, price, and performance that works for them. My world, Ron N _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 090403-0, 04/03/2009 Tested on: 4/4/2009 9:49:25 AM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software.
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