As a counter to it being "bad" technicians that do little to make the piano better, it is the "customers" looking for a "cheap" job rather than a "quality" job. I have two instruments in St. Louis that I can comment on. The first is a 6' Steinway. I tuned the piano in 1980 and advised the church that the piano needed rebuilding and gave references to several rebuilders in St. Louis - never heard more. In 1995 I was called on to tune the piano. It had been rebuilt by a novice - it was quite obvious - pins were facing the soundboard and not the keyboard - pin block drilled wrong. Action was unresponsive. Again I advised that the piano should be NOW rebuilt by a "competent" rebuilder. The new pastor raised the funds and had it rebuilt by a quality rebuilder - I love servicing the piano now. The second is a 6' Sohmer & Co. Again refinished by an excellent "furniture" refinisher but they knew nothing about pianos! I was called for emergency service. The hammer line looked like "saw teeth", some hammers blocked; others hardly played (regulation of capstans so far out); alignment of hammers way off. When the outside was refinished, the keybed was not covered and there is overspray all over it. The lyre is falling apart; the bass bridge is loose from the soundboard on the bass end and buzzing so I put a rubber mute wedge in to stop that buzzing; and the torque is "nonexistent" on a number of pins BUT they got the piano from a "friend" and are not ready to put any additional money in the piano. Every time I am called to tune, it is "way out" making it obvious the integrity of the piano is in question... So go figure... Ken Gerler ----- Original Message ----- From: David Love To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 10:55 PM Subject: Re: [pianotech] Commercial value vs. sentimental value Sadly, it does happen. Sometimes there is more to the story than that but I think on these types of jobs-or any jobs for that matter-you have to be willing and able to give all the information without fear of the outcome, i.e. whether they will go for the job or not. Some people will try and play hero: "I can make this piano exceptional for very little money". And they end up doing a poor job or not being realistic about what is actually required, or both. I believe that the more thoroughly and competently you present the information necessary for individuals to make informed decisions, the more confident they will be in your ability to do the job properly and the greater likelihood they will use you or, if they opt not to go ahead, appreciate your honesty and thoroughness and continue to employ you as their resource for whatever they choose to do. Either way, it's good for business, reputation, referrals and customer relations. We are craftspeople (hopefully) but it is a service business. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 8:38 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Commercial value vs. sentimental value It is one thing for a rebuilder with the ability and credentials like Del, Ron, David, etc., to rebuild a piano, regardless of it's original quality. But I'm afraid what is happening way too often, are for technicians who do not have the ability to do even the most basic repairs and restoration, claiming they can make the piano sound and look "like new", and convince the customer that their "heirloom" piano will be worth thousands of dollars, when all they are doing is some cosmetic patch up, shape the hammers, blow out the dirt, and give it a tuning. Although there are many technicians who have the ability to do a lot more, for the most, unless a piano is completely "gutted" and brought back to life, in the long run, anything less than that is not worth it. At least that's my opinion. (flame suit on). Wim -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090412/118a659c/attachment.html>
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