[pianotech] rock solid for how long?

[Joe Goss]

Joe Goss BSMusEd MMusEd RPT
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
  Hi.

  I have a client who calls me every time a unison develops a slow roll. 

  Time to sell them a hammer and a few mutes?

  On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 1:01 AM, David Nereson <da88ve at gmail.com> wrote:

      Is "rock solid" really possible?   And for how long?  I have a client who calls me every time a unison develops a slow roll. She must have a super-sensitive ear.  She does pay me to come over and touch-up a few notes, but jeez, to get up, load up, drive over, touch up notes, pack up, & drive back oughta be worth at least $50.  I hate to charge that much each time, and feel guilty that my tuning didn't stay perfectly solid. Sometimes it's only been a few weeks.  But even a former PTG brochure about tuning admitted that no piano holds a tuning perfectly for more than 24 hours. Can't people tolerate some slight out-of-tuneness for a few months?  I can.  It has to be quite bad before I refuse to play it.
      To me, it should be sorta like mowing the lawn.  If it looks good when you're done, great.  No need to make sure each blade of grass is to the nearest millimeter (like tuning to the nearest 10th of a cent), and if a few blades grow faster than others in between mowings, so what?  The lawn still looks good as a whole.  Just accept the longer blades of grass as a little "flavor," variety, or "spice," and live with it until the next mowing.
        If you're a Horowitz, that's different.

      --David Nereson, RPT 



  I have to agree with Gerald, in situations such as you and the others describe, it's not what or how much we do but rather the time we spend that we could be elsewhere charging full rate! So why would you not charge full rate in these instances?
  A friend and mentor used to use the analogy that a tuning is like a haircut, after the barber has finished cutting the right side and starts on the left, the right side is already growing. After we have finished tuning half the piano those unisons are already deteriorating, minutely to the point of being indiscernible but nevertheless it's happening.

  I have a college nearby that is the most prestigeous, musically, in town. They called me to do their concert work last year beginning in August and by October they stopped calling. They felt I should be grateful to be doing their work, shouldn't charge a weekend rate for a Sunday morning tuning for a faculty recital. I believe what convinced them I wasn't going to charge less for the "prestige" of tuning for them was when I charged for the time I waited for sound check for Jim Brickman, I was told 3:30, he wandered in at 5:35, rehearsed for over an hour, Curtain was at 7:30. My touch-up took 20 minutes, I had pre-tuned the day before.

   I don't need that.

  Mike
  -- 
  I intend to live forever. So far, so good. 
  Steven Wright 


  Michael Magness
  Magness Piano Service
  608-786-4404
  www.IFixPianos.com
  email mike at ifixpianos.com
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