[pianotech] Speed setting on Player, was middle pedal

[Ken & Pat Gerler]

Ron,
I have run that very same call!  I had been called to tune a small player. 
After I tuned it, I played a roll for the customer before I left. A couple 
of weeks later, I get a call - rolls will not advance.  Over the phone, I 
suggested she check the tempo lever but she didn't know what I was talking 
about.  Upon making the service call, she said the grandkids had been there 
and one of them must have moved the lever to the "O" position as she never 
adjusted the tempo, she always played the rolls all the same speed and never 
paid any attention to anything but the "Play and Reroll" levers!  Go 
Figure!!!

Ken Gerler

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman at cox.net>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 10:52 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] middle pedal


> On 12/27/2010 10:01 PM, Susan Kline wrote:
>
>> It hardly helps us if we are right, but the customer feels terrible.
>
> A week or so ago, I did a service call on a prehistoric Pianola spinet 
> "player". Nasty little thing with two string unisons, that I last "tuned" 
> something like 15 years ago. The complaint was that it would rewind, but 
> it wouldn't play. The guy called about it early Monday last week, and I 
> scheduled it on Thursday last week at 10:00. About 11:00 on Monday, he 
> called wondering where I was, since he'd been waiting since 10:00. I 
> reminded him that the appointment was for Thursday, and again stated the 
> date. So, Thursday after my first appointment, I showed up to attack the 
> problem. Turned out, the tempo, as I suspected, was set to zero, so the 
> roll wouldn't advance. I showed him how to work it, and he made a comment 
> about how stupid he felt about it. I tried to make the point that we've 
> all been there, and will visit again real soon. I didn't offer to show him 
> scars, but I've sure got 'em. I think (hope) it helped, in spite of the 
> second service call charge this year for the same thing. The thing is, 
> he's a business owner, with a fair bunch of employees. He's used to 
> assigning a perceived annoying minor problem to someone on the payroll and 
> having it taken care of without his further attention, while he does 
> bigger things. With his home piano, he did the same thing he does at work. 
> He automatically notified the guy who does that without attempting to 
> figure it out for himself, and got caught not thinking. I tried to be as 
> graceful as I could about it, but it was still hard on him, since he is 
> capable of better. I got the impression he understood.
>
> The piano, meanwhile, remains untuned these many years. I have no idea 
> whatsoever what the bottom line moral of the story is, but I tried to do 
> as little damage along the way as I could manage.
>
> Ron N