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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Techs</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hopefully I can help everyone or someone a
bit.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I received my second hearing aid about 6 months
ago. I am a 69 year old Aural tuner who sees absolutely no benefit in ever
owning an Tunlab or whatever. I am a concert tuner and to this day will put my
tuning up against any of you. Among my customers are 4 phd's in piano
performance, one master in piano performance, a large number of piano teachers
etc.etc.etc. Oh Yeah---I am an rpt.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I can remember my concerns about getting a hearing
aid. I wondered what my customers would think, "a piano tuner with a
hearing aid" sure. The fact is that over the past 8 years I have been
wearing and aid. I have never had one person ever even question it. I have
discussed it with people, usually with customers who also had aids and wanted to
know what kind I had and why I liked them. I, like everyone else that wears an
aid never realized what I was missing until I received my first one. For what it
is worth, I can still do a good job tuning a piano without the aids but they are
such a great assistance I hate to be without them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There were certain pianos that I always noticed
were harder for me to hear the beats in than others. The absolute worst
for me was a 50s vintage Acrosonic.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It was my ear nose and throat physician that
recommended originally that I get my hearing checked. The Audiologist worked
within the same office as the physician. The test showed some loss over all but
particularly nerve damage in some of the higher frequencies. The audiologist
suggested that I try and aid. Most of the Audiologist have a free 30 day+
trial. The very first piano I happened upon wearing my first aid was a 50s
Acrosonic. When I started to set the first 5th I tweaked up the volume a little
and "wow" those beats jumped out of that piano like I couldn't believe. It
didn't take me long to become a true believer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would not recommend any tuner getting the newer
digital, automatic volume control aids. I have known other tuners that had
them and had problems. I like the ability to adjust the volume as needed for the
particular situation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There are a lot of hidden benefits to wearing
especially two aids. One is when I go to the movies and the sound system is so
loud that everyone that attends needs new hearing aids when they leave. I
just turn my aids off and they act as ear plugs. They also come in handy when
your wife is upset with you.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would bet that over half of the piano technicians
have at least some hearing loss. I would urge all of you to get your hearing
checked every year and don't be afraid to give an aid a try. Believe me, your
friends and especially your customers won't care. If there piano sounds great
when you are ready to leave, they won't care if you wear ear muffs.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A couple of signs for you that are signals that you
have a loss: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you have to raise the volume on the TV and the
wife complains about it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you don't understand what your wife says from
the kitchen while you are watching TV</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you keep having to ask people to repeat what
they said.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>and last but not least---If the beats don't jump
out of your Acrosonic.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With my aids, I hear things that many tuners
don't.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Recently I got called out on a two year old Samick
grand. The owner, a sweet old lady, had been complaining about the piano to the
past two ETD tuners as well as the piano store. They told here that there was
nothing wrong with the piano that what she was hearing was because of her
hearing aids. She also had two aids. The piano had been tuned within two weeks
of my arrival and twice over the month.. The tuning was uneven but my tuning was
going fine until I started into the bass. As I passed into the bass break I
noticed this terrible sound. The strings sounded more like a guitar. When I
checked the bearing on the bass bridge, the first five notes you could stick
paper between the bridge and the strings. There was a minus .020 down bearing
on the rear and +.005 on about 1/8 inch of the front of the bridge. The
piano was sent back to the factory and the lady is thrilled with her new
piano.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For God Sake---go get your ears checked people.Your
ETDs don't hear this stuff. Half of you can't hear and don't know it. Piano
tuners are probably among the absolutely worst hearing people in the
world.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ron May</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joegarrett@earthlink.net
href="mailto:joegarrett@earthlink.net">Joseph Garrett</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, March 13, 2006 2:22
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Hearing Exam - was OhOh</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0>"You mentioned being "of a certain age" (it's a big club)
and I'm wondering how your hearing is at that end of the piano. If you don't
have an ETD but do have hearing loss at higher frequencies, you may need to
bite the bullet and buy one. For what it's worth, I like Tunlab on my PocketPC
because it is more affordable than others, has everything I need, and has a
built in spectrum analyzer that REALLY helps you see what's going on in those
top octaves."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Why is it so darned hard to go to the Audiologist and get
your ears checked?!!! We all need to do that, at least, every other year. In
our case, once a year is more logical. Sheesh! (And guys are worse than the
ladies. Must be a "guy thing" or is it just plain ego getting in the way of
logic?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Yeah, I'm back.<G> Been taking a sabbatical from youse
guys/gals. (I can take only so much, ya know.<G>)</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon)</DIV>
<DIV>Captain, Tool Police</DIV>
<DIV>Squares R I</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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