<font color='black' size='2' face='Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif'> <div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <div id=AOLMsgPart_1_ef41c39a-f66f-40a8-aa16-6f089eb9fae9><FONT color=black size=2 face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <div>Les</div> <div> </div> <div>If you feel comfortable working in a customer's home for long periods of time, more power to you. Personally, it's not that I don't mind if they watch me work, or even ask questions, but if I have to be in a customer's home for more than a couple of hours I feel like I'm intruding on their space and time. Not only that, but I want to take a break every hour or two, to go to the bathroom, get a drink or get something to eat, check my e-mail, talk to my wife, etc. I can't do that if I'm working in a customer's home. Not only that, but when I take a project home. I'm assured to have good lighting, all my tools, supplies, parts, etc. handy, and if I make a mistake, the customer won't hear me swear. I can't imagine not having a shop to work in, even if it's a kitchen table, or a bench or table in the garage or car port. </div> <div> </div> <div>Just my take on it.</div> <div> </div> <div>Wim</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>From: Leslie Bartlett <l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net><br> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Sat, Mar 10, 2012 2:08 pm<br> Subject: [pianotech] in-home-service<br> <br> </div> <div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <div id=AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4> <STYLE>#AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 td{color: black;} #AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 p.MsoNormal,#AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 li.MsoNormal,#AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} #AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 a:link,#AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} #AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 a:visited,#AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} #AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-compose; font-family:Arial; color:windowtext; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; text-decoration:none none;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} #AOLMsgPart_1_c76b2bea-4f25-4b8f-8898-73d82a600eb4 div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </STYLE> <div class=Section1> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Meeting today, talking about agraffe repair and vertical damper regulation, in one’s shop, of course.  I don’t have a shop, and am known mostly for my tuning. But I have done some regulation, and all of it has been in home, more than once lasting several days.  I’d just blathering to recommend doing such work in-home has some advantages. I restrung a Steinway M. years ago for a retired shop teacher, who I charged about 1/3 what I should have. At that price he gagged.  When I got into the action, I found I couldn’t even regulate it, so told him I’d have to replace hammers-shanks-flanges, and again I charged him way too little.  He double gagged when I told him the price.  Long story made short.  About half way into the regulation work, he said to me, “I am going to hand you a blank check, and I want you to write in what this is worth.”   I have to do most everything I do in-home, but each time I have done something like this in-home people have expressed great appreciation for the intricacy involved, and the complexity of this thing called “piano”. They have always been really happy to pay what I asked, usually saying I under priced myself.  So, I don’t have any axe to grind, just a thought that perhaps time spent doing work in-home can pay unexpected results in a positive way.</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Les Bartlett</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Houston</SPAN></FONT></div> </div> </div> </div> </FONT></div> </div> </font>