<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>"The way I think of it is that I simply make the same </DIV> <DIV>amount of money in less time with a lesser piano."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"The finer instruments take more time and it costs </DIV> <DIV>the customer more to have them serviced."<BR></DIV> <DIV>I'm really just trying to understand various philosophies for fee schedules. I know many techs basically sell a service call as a = specific amount of time for a given fee. In that situation, the piano gets = whatever it needs most in that amount of time - High-end grand or Betsy Ross spinet. = I certainly understand Conrad's point about diminishing returns on tuning = effort. But if one person is getting 2 hours service for $X, and another is = getting only 1 hour service for the same $X, that seems less than fair to me. The two = quoted statements above appear to contradict one another. In the first it = appears that the console owner is getting lesser value than Mrs. DeepPockets. In the = second, it appears that a greater fee is being charged for a higher level = of service on the finer instrument. Please clarify.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The following frustrates me sometimes. I am still building my business. I am busy, but not so busy yet to be turning away business - = so, yes, I still tune old uprights. My tuning skills have increased steadily, and = the time required to do a tuning has decreased steadily. I wish we could = charge strictly by the hour.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It is now common for me to tune - lets use the easiest piano in the = world - a good-condition Yamaha P-22 in less than an hour (I think my record for = an easy piano is about 42 minutes).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A bad console - i.e. 1959 Sorry & Yuck than has been = mistreated - will take longer because, even with diminishing returns, it will be = slower because of all the wierd noises. The bad console will take me 75 = minutes on average.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The grand usually takes about 75 to 90 minutes. The good ones - I = will spend more time with just becuase one can do a better job on them - = takes longer to get to that point of diminishing return. The bad ones are no = different from the bad console - sometimes even worse because of their age - but I = guess those horizontal strings fog my thinking and I try a little harder on these (sometimes) than the bad console.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The old upright. The old upright. Geeeeezzz. The old upright. Hmmm. = First you spend 20 minutes trying to talk the owner out of doing anything with = it. After failure at that (although I do not always fail!), you tune three = notes - pound in a tuning pin - tune a few more - now you gotta stop = because you have a jack flange unglued - fix that - bla, bla, bla, - hammers = flying off - bla, bla, bla, - you know the picture here - even though you charge = extra to fix the jack flange and unglued hammer butt leather, and broken = hammer, etc., etc., it still slows you down big time. I find that old uprights = will take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours to tune - plus the repairs.</DIV> <DIV> <SPAN id=__#Ath#SignaturePos__></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV>So here I tune pianos in 45 minutes to 2 hours and charge the same = thing (actually I do charge the same for all except $5 more for spinets and = $10 more for old uprights). This is dictated by piano owners expecting one price = for tuning.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The point? Just trying to understand how others work some of this = out. Thanks.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Terry Farrell</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=Billbrpt@AOL.COM = href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM">Billbrpt@AOL.COM</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> Sunday, August 05, 2001 = 12:32 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Under an hour = tuning (was labor rates)</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a = message dated 8/4/01 11:19:37 PM Central Daylight Time, <BR><A href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A> = (Farrell) writes: <BR><BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px = solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">"Concert pianos on stages and console pianos in living = rooms are not the <BR>same <BR>kinds of instruments.  I know, for example = that when I am going to tune a <BR>Steinway grand in someone's home, the = time I spend will be much more, maybe <BR>even double." <BR><BR>Is that = because a Steinway grand is harder to tune? Do you charge 50% for <BR>the = console? I don't understand your policy here. Please clarify. If my <BR>auto = mechanic did a significantly better tune-up on my neighbor's new Lexus = <BR>than on my 18-year-old car, I would not be happy with him/her at all. Is = <BR>this what is going on here?</BLOCKQUOTE><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial = color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>I'd have to hand it to Conrad for = answering the question quite well.  The way <BR>I think of it is that I simply = make the same amount of money in less time <BR>with a lesser piano.  When = people inquire about "How much does it cost to <BR>tune a piano?", you can't = really start giving a list of sliding scale prices <BR>for various brands of = pianos in various conditions. <BR><BR>I spend more time on the Steinway or = other fine grand because it and the <BR>customer deserves it.  You can't = make a "furniture" piano sound much better <BR>than it will in 45 minutes, no = matter what you do.  But that does not mean I <BR>disrespect the = instrument nor the people who own it, I simply provide an <BR>appropriate level of = service.  If the console or spinet piano needs cleaning, <BR>regulation, = action tightening, alignment, voicing, etc., I use techniques <BR>which get = the job done quickly and efficiently and for an appropriate fee.   = <BR>The finer instruments take more time and it costs the customer more to have = <BR>them serviced. <BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 = size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Bill Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>