[pianotech] billing dilemma with pitch raises

[Terry Farrell]

David - I don't understand why your tuning time varies between whether  
you have made a pitch adjustment to the piano, or not. I find that a  
tuning typically takes me about 75 minutes whether or not I have made  
a separate pitch correction prior to tuning.

The only reason I can think of is that a piano which you determine  
does not require a pitch correction prior to tuning is significantly  
further from being "in tune" than a piano immediately after you have  
made a pitch correction. Is that true? Why would that be? The only  
thing I can think of is that you are doing relatively accurate pitch  
corrections (end result is within a cent or two of final target), and  
you are willing to tune the same piano (same circumstances) without a  
pitch correction when it is significantly out of tune or off pitch  
(more so than the result of your typical pitch correction).

If that is true, then I would suggest that you are not recommending a  
pitch correction in many situations when a pitch correction would be  
beneficial. Most of my pitch corrections end up within a few cents of  
target, and if I determine a piano does not need a pitch correction,  
that piano is typically within a few cents of target (very similar to  
the result of a pitch correction).

How do the results of your pitch corrections compared to a piano that  
you determine does not require a pitch correction prior to tuning.  
Seems to me they should be about the same. And if they are the same or  
similar, then why would the tuning time vary by 50%?

Terry Farrell

On Oct 31, 2010, at 1:04 AM, David Nereson wrote:

>   Most tunings take me an hour and a half.  And for that amount of  
> time I charge $X.
>   But often, after a pitch raise, which gets the piano pretty close  
> to being in tune, the final fine tuning only takes an hour.
>   Say the pitch raise took 1/2 hr, and the final tuning an hour.   
> That's an hour an a half.  How do I now justify charging extra for  
> the pitch raise when a "plain vanilla" tuning also takes an hour and  
> a half and I only charge $X for it?
>  Or to look at it another way, if you charge $X per hour and base  
> your tuning fee on that, then go do a tuning and pitch raise that  
> only takes 1 1/2 hrs., but you still charge extra for the pitch  
> raise, then now you're charging more than $X per hour.
>   --David Nereson, RPT