<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2722" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yeah, well that was Friday. Try = a dreich Saturday morning in Edinburgh tuning a piano bought from E-Bay. If = that is not enough, the beast has oblong tuning pins. Talk about torture. I said = to madame afterwards; someone else can have the pleasure next time. The = client's record is marked TBA (to be avoided).</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>AF</FONT></STRONG></DIV></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr 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=tune4u@earthlink.net = href="mailto:tune4u@earthlink.net">Alan Barnard</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> Saturday, October 22, = 2005 6:25 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Never, Ever ....</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <P> <DIV>I almost broke my own rule today and, luckily, didn't. (There's a = question at the end of the sob story.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The rule is:  WHENEVER POSSIBLE, always schedule first-time-I'm-seeing-a piano appointments in the early afternoon and NEVER schedule another appointment after it. I don't care = WHAT they tell you on the phone!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What they told me on the phone: "Oh, it's a fairly new Kimball in = excellent condition. It just needs tuning. My mom gave it to = us."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Piano is a 70's console. Nice furniture. It is 80+ cents flat in = tenor and bass, 30-60 cents flat in the bass. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Item learned through a little questioning: It was last tuned at = least 20 years ago. Maybe more.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>No one suspected it was badly out of tune until a skilled = pianist, a visitor to the home, was asked to play it. Well, whadduhyaknow!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>PR, PR, tune, tune, tune ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As I moved up the scale on the long bridge, the strings became = more and more reactive to the slightest touch of the hammer BUT were the very = devil to get on pitch and stable.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tune, tune, tune ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Has fairly shallow angles from pin to and over the V-bar (which, = nicely, has the old nickle-steel rod insert) and only a thin, narrow strip of = felt under the strings ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"That red stuff shore is perty, Ethyl Sue, I wonder what's it = for?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"I dunno, Clem, maybe it's that thermalnucliunderwear = thingy."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway, acts like rusty strings on a steep grand plate with 3 = inches of felt. I grab my trusty CLP in the syringe bottle. I drown the whole = friction area. I look more closely at the bottle as I put the lid on. I realize = I have just washed everything with wallpaper remove solution. I panic. I = borrow a hairdryer ... but, I digress.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ultimately, tuning is so bad I question the pressure bar. It = refuses to answer my questions. I turn each screw about 20 degrees left. = (Yeah, yeah, I know. Whatthehell.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I start tuning the tenor and treble all over again--now down 20 = cents or so.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>PR, tune, tune, tune ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A little easier to find and settle to pitch. Or is it my = imagination? Oh, look, it's a UFO.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tune, fine-tune, tweak ... play ... = cringe, whimper, tune, tune, tweak ... quit.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It is as in-tune as this boy can make it on this particular visit. Strings need leveling or hammers need attention, = voicing is icky, tone is whiny, lot's of false beats, etc. (And the "etc." was particularly lousy.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I play for the delightful owners. They think it sounds = "Wonderful!" They do not know from pianos, eh, what?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I play another merry little tune: Diddely, dinkety, tinkelty, = tink ... Toink!  (A 6th octave string has passed away; only ghost = tones remain.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I replace the string, tune, tune. I present a bill for regular = tuning fee X 2 (these are friends of my daughter, I should mention). He says, = "Why that doesn't seem like enough for all that work you've done (from 2 pm till = about 6:30 pm)."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Well, that's what I'm charging, anything more would be a = tip."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>He rounds up the payment with a $40 tip. This is a good = thing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I stumble out the door and head for the nearest fast-food = emporium (I am 2 and a half hours from home).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here's the promised question: </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Is this work not sometimes a physical and/or emotional = wipeout, or am I crazy? Or all of the above?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks. I had to dump this somewhere and my wife has heard = it all before.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Alan Barnard</DIV> <DIV>Salem, Missouri</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <P></P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>