[pianotech] Pitch raise criteria

[Mark Potter]

John -

I concur.  Except in performance and recording situations, and for my most discerning clients, I feel that charging for a pitch raise of less than 10-12 cents would not be serving my customer's best interests.  What IS common practice for me, though, here in Ohio, is to do a real quick pitch correction for the lowest 6 or so notes of the tenor (some pretty wild swings there!), then tune.

Mark Potter  

--- On Sun, 8/2/09, John Ross <jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca> wrote:

From: John Ross <jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Pitch raise criteria
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 8:03 AM



 
 

This may be heresy to some, and they are 
going to be mad at me, but I just have to say it.
But I just can't see a pitch raise being 
necessary for a 2c change.
If it is a concert venue, the stage lights 
can make it vary more than that.
When I started, statements like that kind 
of scared me, I couldn't possibly get that kind of 
accuracy.
Then I decided, I wasn't going to worry 
about it.
Let us be real, except for concert 
technician situations, a one of concert, it isn't 
necessary.
If a piano is a lot out of pitch, then that 
customer doesn't really need, the superfine tuning, so you are wasting their 
money, and your time. They obviously don't need it.
How many times have you been called out, to 
be told, it has been a few years since it was tuned, and it is still almost spot 
on?
I have this niggling feeling, that the 
people that make these 1 and 2 cent statements, are trying to show people how 
good they are.
Different customers need different things, 
so tune and charge for the service REQUIRED by the customer, not by your needs 
to pay your bills.
Mostly for pitch raises, I will tell them 
to call me back in a month or two, as we are on a catch up situation, due to the 
too long a time between tunings. I also tell them that because of the humidity 
changes, it never really stays in tune anyway. 
So once again, why the need for a pitch 
raise every time a piano is tuned?
MOST people don't need 
it.
Oh to be fair, that depends on your 
clientele.
Most people won't be able to hear 
this 1 and 2 cent discrepancy.
So anyone new in the business, don't be put 
off by some of the claims made.
If your customers keep calling you back, 
then you are doing the job correctly for them.
Oh yes, this is my 20th year for a 
University contract, that is given out yearly. I retired from it for a year on 
my 70 the birthday, but missed doing it, and they encouraged me to apply again, 
as they had always been satisfied with my work. So I did, and I have it 
back.
The pianos, under a lot of you, would have 
needed a pitch raise every time I tuned them, but the most I ever did was double 
tune to some areas. 40 pianos done twice a year, and 3 of them concert grands, 
done 10 times or more in the school year.
Some of the other tunings at the university 
were for concerts, and recordings.
With the seasons here, it makes no sense to 
do a pitch raise for anything under say 20 cents, and that is a guess. 

If it is out any amount I say you left it 
too long call me in a month or two, or if you notice it 
sooner.
I also tell them, not to tune it through 
the summer, but to wait till the heat is on in the Fall.
Different strokes for different folks, 
customers and tuners.
Oh yes, funny thing, I will probably 
get no comments on this. I don't know if it is because people see my name and 
erase it, or don't want to be seen as agreeing with me. 
LOL
John Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  Terry 
  Farrell 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 6:24 
  AM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Pitch raise 
  criteria
  

  Don't sweat it too much Rob. Some of us seem to never really get into the 
  "high speed" category. Now maybe there's something wrong with me (well, we 
  KNOW that!) but I've been tuning pianos for more than ten years now and on a 
  regular basis it take me two hours to do a full pitch raise and tuning on a 
  piano that has been neglected from some years. If the piano is up to pitch, it 
  usually takes me 75 minutes to tune it - sometimes, if the piano is very 
  cooperative, I can do it in an hour.
  

  These guys that pitch raise, tune and repair a piano in one hour (and do 
  good work), have skills and techniques beyond what I have. I wish I could work 
  that fast. I've gone to the speed classes and the techniques I've tried just 
  haven't worked for me.
  

  Terry Farrell

  
  On Aug 1, 2009, at 10:24 PM, John Formsma wrote:

  
    On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 9:13 PM, Rob McCall <rob at mccallpiano.com> 
    wrote:

    Jer,

I still don't see how you can do all that in 
      an hour! :-) I'm still taking about 2 hours, sometimes 10-15 minutes 
      longer on the more difficult pianos.  I guess my time will come down 
      with more 
experience.
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