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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I wish I c ould aford to go to Rocheser this year, but I'm
going to the regional in Cincinnatti. Is anyone from the list going
there?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Marshall</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">John
Ross</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 15, 2006 9:31
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: THE best RPT in America
(rant)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Sounds like he doesn't even go to conventions,
as he wouldn't learn anything.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I am leaving for Rochester, Monday, hope to see
lots of the faces from the list, there.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.<BR><A
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV>
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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=piannaman@aol.com
href="mailto:piannaman@aol.com">piannaman@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:01
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: THE best RPT in America
(rant)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana'">
<DIV>
<DIV>Rant justified, IMHO. I don't even wanna know who this guy
is. How does he keep ANY clients at all?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Dave Stahl</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV> <BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Tom Sivak
<<A
href="mailto:tvaktvak@sbcglobal.net">tvaktvak@sbcglobal.net</A>><BR>To:
pianotech <<A
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>><BR>Sent: Thu, 15
Jun 2006 06:33:38 -0700 (PDT)<BR>Subject: THE best RPT in America
(rant)<BR><BR>
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<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_2_c6c88cdf-13f9-4089-9a53-b5a014904943>
<DIV>List</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What do you think about an RPT whom I met recently? Below are
some of his comments that I found...interesting.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. Only one or two clients per month can "appreciate" the
really fine tuning he is capable of, so he feels that "as long as the
unisons and octaves are close" that's good enough for the rest of
them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. Informed me that he never bothered to learn how to splice a
string. His scores on the other areas of the RPT Technical Exam were
high enough that he passed without even attempting it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>3. Told me that his hearing is "too good". "I actually
<STRONG>hear</STRONG> coincidental partials! When I use a M3/M10 test
on an octave, I actually <STRONG>hear</STRONG> the coincidental partials
beating!" (WOW! Imagine that! Now there's a set of
ears!)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>4. Told me he covets the job of tuning for his local symphony
orchestra, and regarding the guy who has the gig, "I can't figure out how he
got the position. I've heard his work. I do a much better job."
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>5. Hired to tune pianos in a warehouse (with me and 4 other
tuners), he tuned two pianos in 7 hours. (I tuned 6.) He then
asked me, "How do you do it so fast?" So the next day, I chose to tune
a piano behind him so I could watch him in action to see if I could give him
some tips on tuning faster. I watched him as he used both hands to
place the tuning lever on each pin, left hand on the tip, right hand on the
handle. Then...he'd detune the string by at least a half step to a
minor third, before pulling it back up to pitch. He did this on pitch
raises as well as the final pass. I commented, "You could
improve your speed if you used just one hand to move the tuning lever from
one pin to the next." He replied, "I don't want to scratch the
plate. That's why I use both hands." (Am I super-coordinated or
something, that I am able to move the tuning lever from one pin to the next
without scratching the plate! ? Or is this just another Associate-related
bad habit? I couldn't even think of a way to comment on his detuning
of each string without insulting him.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>6. Claimed that Virgil Smith told him that he tuned as well as
Virgil himself and that he could teach him nothing. (Except perhaps
the one thing Virgil <STRONG>should</STRONG> have taught him: to do the best
he can on every piano, whether he thinks the client can "appreciate" it, or
not.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>7. Wore a tie (with the RPT logo on the tie tac) every day to the
warehouse while the rest of us wore Tshirts and shorts. (OK, at this
point, every little thing about this guy bugged me...my apologies to all you
logo-bearing-tie-tac-wearing RPTs out there.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>8. Claimed he won an award from his chapter for passing his RPT
exam quicker than anyone EVER had in the past. (Less than 4
years...and...NO STRINGS WERE SPLICED during the production of this
RPT!)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What a piece of work this guy was!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sorry for that. I do feel better, though, sharing that with
someone. Anyone.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This is not a rant against RPTs in general. I may be one myself,
one day. Call me old-fashioned, but I plan to splice a string at my
Tech Exam, plan to continue to do the best tuning I can on every spinet I
come across, will continue to not cast aspersions on the work of others in
my field, and will never drop Virgil's name in an effort to validate
myself.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tom Sivak</DIV>
<DIV>Associate Member Chicago Chapter</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_2_c6c88cdf-13f9-4089-9a53-b5a014904943 -->
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