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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I never charge for a =
pitch
raise, however I don't discount if one isn't needed either. I used =
to
charge for mileage too, but don't any more. One price for =
all is my
rule now. I might be a bit higher than the norm for this area, but =
I find
it all averages out in the end. I like consistency. If a =
pitch raise
is needed, I explain to the customer what I'm doing, and that the =
finished
tuning will be up to pitch and sound great, but it won't stay in tune =
quite as
long this first time. (Assuming its been 3-5 years since the last =
tuning,
which is often the case). I then encourage them to begin an annual =
tuning
schedule which after 2-3 years will bring their piano back to a stable
situation. I prefer using this method rather than either (1) =
raising the
pitch in increments, thus leaving the piano at less than A440, or (2)
recommending another tuning be done in 1-3 months, and again =
raising pitch
in steps. Not every owner follows this recommendation, but I =
hesitate to
appear as though I'm pushing more tunings as well as leaving the piano =
out of
tune. If I do return in a year, usually follow-up pitch raises are =
not
necessary, and I feel the slight additional charge for all tunings =
covers the
occasional pitch raises that are needed. Mike
Kurta</FONT></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=dnereson@dimensional.com =
href="mailto:dnereson@dimensional.com">Dave
Nereson</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> Wednesday, April 17, 2002 =
6:45
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Charging for Pitch =
Raises</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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=pianowrmonroe@hotmail.com
href="mailto:pianowrmonroe@hotmail.com">William R. Monroe</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> Tuesday, April 16, 2002 =
6:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Charging for Pitch
Raises</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I was reading an old essay (PTJ August '90) by Rick Baldassin =
regarding
Piano Tuning Stability. Within that article, Rick writes =
about
tuning for a concert and remarks that after a rehearsal, the treble =
was
really out. 'Why? The treble notes were too far out of =
tune to
create a stable tuning in one pass on the tuning.' He stated =
that when
he tuned the instrument prior to the rehearsal, the 6th and 7th =
octaves were
flat, 'maybe as much as four cents.'</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So, in a nutshell, if your piano is four cents flat, your =
tuning will
not be stable (for a concert level tuning). </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My questions:</DIV>
<DIV> 1.) Really? Is four cents flat too much to get a =
stable
concert tuning?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2.) For our regular clients, when do we begin charging for a =
pitch
raise, 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents? I realize that neither all =
clients, nor their instruments will require this level tuning, but =
where do
we draw the line and say we must raise pitch to get a stable =
tuning?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am very interested to hear as many opinions on this one as
possible.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thank you,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>William R. Monroe<BR>PTG Associate<BR>Salt Lake City, UT</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Yes, 4 cents flat is probably too flat to =
get a
stable concert tuning in one pass. Back when people referred =
to beats
per second (at A 49) more often than cents, someone at a seminar =
said that
anything more than 2 beats per second flat would require a pitch =
raise to be
stable in one pass. I find (in the home, not concert tunings) =
that
that's about right most of the time. </DIV>
<DIV> For clients, whether regular or not, I =
suppose you
should charge extra for any tuning that requires more passes to
stabilize than one on a piano that's already
at pitch. I don't think I've ever done a "one-pass
tuning". It's always once through to do the initial tuning, =
then
another time through to re-tune the ones that slipped, then I =
take out
the ear plugs and go through again for a final touch-up. The =
second
two "passes" are very quick and are considered part of the
tuning. </DIV>
<DIV> If I had even a nickel for every free pitch =
raise
I've done, I could probably buy a new couch or something. =
Sometimes I
just don't want to go drag the customer away from what they're doing =
to tell
them there's going to be an extra charge. Sometimes I charge =
and
sometimes I don't -- I know, that's inconsistent, but since the =
pitch raise
takes only 10 or 15 minutes, I usually just quickly bang it out =
rather than
go get them to give 'em the lecture about tension, humidity, =
dryness, string
stretching, tuning every 6 months, etc. Even if I do, it =
doesn't do
any good. They still wait 2 to10 years before they get it =
tuned again,
even if I leave literature about it. I've almost given up on
explaining about and charging for pitch raises. Almost all =
pianos I
tune need one, except those that get tuned every year (schools, =
piano
teachers), and even some of those need a "quickie raise or lower" in =
the
middle, depending what season it was when they were last =
tuned. </DIV>
<DIV> I dunno, for me it's easier =
to have
the charge for a pitch raise figured in to the "regular" base fee, =
and if it
doesn't need a p.r., give them a $10 or $15 discount.
--David Nereson, RPT,
Denver</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>