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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Either one could be a bad thing especially if the heresy
was hear say. lol</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=pianowerks.inc@comcast.net
href="mailto:pianowerks.inc@comcast.net">pianowerks.inc@comcast.net</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 7:49
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: THE best RPT in America
(rant)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Heresy or hear-say....lol</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">--------------
Original message -------------- <BR>From: "pianolover 88" <<A
href="mailto:pianolover88@hotmail.com">pianolover88@hotmail.com</A>>
<BR><BR>> First of all, to be fair, that is heresy, and "quoted" from
your memory. We <BR>> have no way of knowing if he said any of that in
jest, or if you misquoted <BR>> or even misunderstood what he was
conveying. <BR>> <BR>> Having said that, Being and RPT may have its
merits and benifits, but in no <BR>> way does it guarantee a better
income or anything else other than the <BR>> satisfaction that you passed
the test and can put the logo on your business <BR>> cards. <BR>>
<BR>> Terry Peterson <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> ----Original
Message Follows---- <BR>> From: Tom Sivak
<TVAKTVAK@SBCGLOBAL.NET><BR>> Reply-To: Pianotech List
<PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>> To: pianotech <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>>
Subject: THE best RPT in America (rant)! <BR>&g t; Date: Thu, 15 Jun
2006 06:33:38 -0700 (PDT) <BR>> <BR>> List <BR>> <BR>> What do
you think about an RPT whom I met recently? Below are some of <BR>> his
comments that I found...interesting. <BR>> <BR>> 1. Only one or two
clients per month can "appreciate" the really fine <BR>> tuning he is
capable of, so he feels that "as long as the unisons and <BR>> octaves
are close" that's good enough for the rest of them. <BR>> <BR>> 2.
Informed me that he never bothered to learn how to splice a string. <BR>>
His scores on the other areas of the RPT Technical Exam were high enough
<BR>> that he passed without even attempting it. <BR>> <BR>> 3.
Told me that his hearing is "too good". "I actually hear <BR>>
coincidental partials! When I use a M3/M10 test on an octave, I actually
<BR>> hear the coincidental partials beating!" (WOW! Imagine that! Now
there's <BR>> a set of ears!) <BR>> <BR>> 4. Told me he covets the
job of tunin! g for h is local symphony orchestra, <BR>> and regarding
the guy who has the gig, "I can't figure out how he got the <BR>>
position. I've heard his work. I do a much better job." <BR>> <BR>> 5.
Hired to tune pianos in a warehouse (with me and 4 other tuners), he
<BR>> tuned two pianos in 7 hours. (I tuned 6.) He then asked me, "How do
you do <BR>> it so fast?" So the next day, I chose to tune a piano behind
him so I could <BR>> watch him in action to see if I could give him some
tips on tuning faster. <BR>> I watched him as he used both hands to place
the tuning lever on each pin, <BR>> left hand on the tip, right hand on
the handle. Then...he'd detune the <BR>> string by at least a half step
to a minor third, before pulling it back up <BR>> to pitch. He did this
on pitch raises as well as the final pass. I <BR>> commented, "You could
improve your speed if you used just one hand to move <BR>> the tuning
lever from one pin to the next." He repli! ed, "I don't want to <BR>>
scratch the plate. That's why I use both hands." (Am I super-coordinated or
<BR>> something, that I am able to move the tuning lever from one pin to
the next <BR>> without scratching the plate? Or is this just another
Associate-related bad <BR>> habit? I <BR>> couldn't even think of a
way to comment on his detuning of each string <BR>> without insulting
him.) <BR>> <BR>> 6. Claimed that Virgil Smith told him that he tuned
as well as Virgil <BR>> himself and that he could teach him nothing.
(Except perhaps the one thing <BR>> Virgil should have taught him: to do
the best he can on every piano, whether <BR>> he thinks the client can
"appreciate" it, or not.) <BR>> <BR>> 7. Wore a tie (with the RPT logo
on the tie tac) every day to the <BR>> warehouse while the rest of us
wore Tshirts and shorts. (OK, at this point, <BR>> every little thing
about this guy bugged me...my apologies to all you <BR>> logo-bearing-t!
ie-tac- wearing RPTs out there.) <BR>> <BR>> 8. Claimed he won an
award from his chapter for passing his RPT exam <BR>> quicker than anyone
EVER had in the past. (Less than 4 years...and...NO <BR>> STRINGS WERE
SPLICED during the production of this RPT!) <BR>> <BR>> What a piece
of work this guy was! <BR>> <BR>> Sorry for that. I do feel better,
though, sharing that with someone. <BR>> Anyone. <BR>> <BR>> This
is not a rant against RPTs in general. I may be one myself, one <BR>>
day. Call me old-fashioned, but I plan to splice a string at my Tech Exam,
<BR>> plan to continue to do the best tuning I can on every spinet I come
across, <BR>> will continue to not cast aspersions on the work of others
in my field, and <BR>> will never drop Virgil's name in an effort to
validate myself. <BR>> <BR>> Tom Sivak <BR>> Associate Member
Chicago Chapter <BR>> <BR>> </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>