Same opinion here, Dale. <div><br></div><div>Yes, we should always do our best. But...even when we do our best, there are pianos that will never turn out well.</div><div><br></div><div>We must be aware of the pianos whose strings touch the adjacent tuning pins, causing them to move after being tuned properly. Not only are the crappy pianos hard to hear, they often don't stay in the right place during tuning. Why waste time on that???</div> <div><br></div><div>My best on some pianos is to make them sound less bad.</div><div><br></div><div>-- <br><div>John Formsma, RPT<br></div><div>Blue Mountain, MS</div><div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 10:40 AM, Dale Erwin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:erwinspiano@aol.com" target="_blank">erwinspiano@aol.com</a>></span> wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"> <div><span> <br> zzzzactly<br> <br> I have said it often that these pianos were an awful waste of natural resources. In fact the joke at my Dads shop was that the rookie was the new Kimball expert!!<br> <br> <font color="crimson">Gordon said<div class="im"><br> is it really worth risking one's sanity on some truly awful specimen? </div></font></span><font color="crimson"><span>(A "Grand" brand spinet comes to mind, along with some of the worst Kimballs.) So cheaply made that it severely twists with each pass of the pins???<div class="im"><br> I'd rather save my sanity and tell the customer the piano will only sound so-so, regardless of how much of my life-force I expend on it, charge them accordingly, and offer to help them find a better one.</div></span></font></div> </font><br> <font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"> <br> <div style="clear:both"><font size="1" color="royalblue"><b><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><font color="black"><font color="mediumblue" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif">Dale Erwin... RPT</font><br> </font></font></b></font><font color="darkgreen"><span style="font-style:italic"><b><font size="1"><font color="black"><font color="blueviolet"><font color="black"> <font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif">Mason & Hamlin</font><font face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif">/Steinway/</font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif">U.S pianos</font><font face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"><br> </font></font></font></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.Erwinspiano.com" target="_blank">www.Erwinspiano.com</a></font><br> <font color="crimson" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"><a href="tel:209-577-8397" value="+12095778397" target="_blank">209-577-8397</a></font><br> <font color="darkgreen"></font></font></b></span></font><tt><tt><font color="darkgreen"><br> </font><br> <font></font></tt></tt><br> <br> </div><div><div class="h5"> <br> <br> <div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,helvetica">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Euphonious Thumpe <<a href="mailto:lclgcnp@yahoo.com" target="_blank">lclgcnp@yahoo.com</a>><br> To: pianotech <<a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" target="_blank">pianotech@ptg.org</a>><br> Sent: Tue, May 15, 2012 8:16 am<br> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Striving for the "wow" factor...<br> <br> <div> <div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif"> <div><span>"Spinets" did not exist while William Braid White was alive. (Ha! Ha!)</span></div> <div><span>But seriously, folks.......</span></div> <div><span></span> </div> <div><span> Almost every piano made when he lived was made with a "God is watching us" type ethos of craftsmanship. ( Which we see in nearly all 1880-1915 era pianos, and just about everything else made then.) While I agree we should strive to do the best job possible, is it really worth risking one's sanity on some truly awful specimen? </span><span>(A "Grand" brand spinet comes to mind, along with some of the worst Kimballs.) So cheaply made that it severely twists with each pass of the pins??? I'd rather save my sanity and tell the customer the piano will only sound so-so, regardless of how much of my life-force I expend on it, charge them accordingly, and offer to help them find a better one.</span></div> <div><span> Regarding vintage playerpianos, though: I have never enjoyed being with the sort of customer who WANTS it to sound "tinny", out-of-tune and "rinky-tink". The popular music of the era pneumatic players reigned in (IMHO) was the most advanced ever produced, and deserves a wonderful-sounding instrument to bring its harmonic richness out from all of those little holes.</span></div> <div></div> <div> </div> <div>Euphonious Thumpe<br> </div> <div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt"> <div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial"> <div style="margin:5px 0px;padding:0px;border:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);min-height:0px;line-height:0;font-size:0px" readonly></div> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">From:</span></b> Terry Beckingham <<a href="mailto:t46xd8jb@xplornet.com" target="_blank">t46xd8jb@xplornet.com</a>><br> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" target="_blank">pianotech@ptg.org</a> <br> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">Sent:</span></b> Monday, May 14, 2012 3:20 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [pianotech] Striving for the "wow" factor, was Re: Exams discussion - Odd?<br> </font> </div> <br> I'm not sure, but I think it was William Braid White who said that every tuning should be a concert tuning. That is to say that every tuning should be done as well as possible. That's the way I do it.<br> <br> Terry Beckingham RPT<br> <br> At 02:43 PM 5/14/2012 -0400, you wrote:<br> <br> > If you're not striving for a "wow" factor when you tune even a Winter spinet or a beat up old upright, then you're not doing your job. As Will said, I tune pianos for my satisfaction. If it makes the customer happy, that's a side benefit. And hopefully she will recommend me to her friends and relatives, because that's how I built my customer base. But if the piano doesn't satisfy my ear, then I've not done a good job. And it's amazing how well even the Winter spinet can sound when it's in tune.<br> > <br> > Now, if you don't care about building a tuning clientele, and all you're interested in is repairing player pianos and pump organs, then that's your choice. But don't degrade those of us for whom tuning is an honored and respected profession, and who take pride in our work.<br> > <br> > Speaking of players and pump organs. I'm glad you're still interested in doing this kind of work, because there are fewer and fewer old player pianos left, and it is a dying profession. As much as the PTG would like to offer more classes and articles on those instruments, like any other product, if there is limited demand, it's not going to get featured. By the same token, while we respect your abilities to do your work, and don't question your reasons for doing it, please respect the work aural tuners do, and don't question, much less degrade, their work.<br> > Wim<br> > <br> <br> <br> <br> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></font></font></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div>John Formsma, RPT<br></div><div>Blue Mountain, MS</div><br> </div>