<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Phil and others, This is a very interesting subject, and I'm fascinated by the number of people who said they do the same thing you do.  I don't quite know what to think, but I'd like to add my two cents. I do question how you could conclude in five minutes that all the unisons, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 8vas, etc. were spot on.  Are you sure?  If so, what could cause the piano NOT to be spot on six months from now?  If pianos are tuned regularly enough, do some of them reach the point where they are permanently in tune? I sometimes equate piano tuning with other maintenance-type procedures.  I think that any time maintenance is recommended after a certain period of time, or a certain amount of use, there is the question of whether this is necessary, and maybe sometimes it isn't.  Has any one of you ever requested normal maintenance and then the serviceperson said you didn't need it? "Good news for you, Mr. Smith.  The oil in your car still looks clean, so you don't need to change it" or "your teeth look fine, no cleaning this time, no charge," or "your furnace burners aren't dirty enough for me to take the time to clean."  Would you trust someone who made a recommendation that differs from the accepted norm?  Nearly all piano manufacturers recommend tuning every six months, so I already feel I'm stretching things a little when I suggest that annual tunings should be fine for nearly everyone. There have been a couple times when I suggested to the client, "The piano has changed very little.  Do you want to try two-year tunings instead of annual?"  As often as not, they look at me with questions in their eyes, like, "Is he trying to get out of servicing my piano for some reason?" Just last week I told a piano teacher (owner of a Kawai grand with full DC system), "I had to look hard to find anything that needed to be changed."  She said, "Well, that's good, isn't it?"  It certainly is.  I thought she might want to go to annual tunings, but she's very happy with the six-month tunings, and since I sensed the issue was closed for her, I said nothing more. I use RCT, and I've long suspected that it is "pickier" than the human ear is.  I've never done only an aural check on arriving and making a decision at that point.  I want to *keep* the piano sounding good, not wait until it starts to sound out of tune and then fix it.  I still check every string, trying the unisons to see if I can get them any cleaner (often I can't due to false beats), so even my short jobs take about forty minutes. More could be said, but I think I'll stop there.  Thanks for bringing up this thread.  Since I hold myself to the highest ethical standards, I've thought a lot about it. Regards, Clyde Hollinger, RPT   Phil Bondi wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE> Last Friday was a scheduled appt. with a very faithful every 6 months residential customer - Baldwin Acro(newer Console model) - DC installed.When I arrived, this client was as gracious as ever - said the piano really didn't sound bad at all to her...she wasn't kidding.I probably could have done more harm than good if I tuned the whole thing! - it was spot-on with the exception of a few top-end unisons..I touched them up for her, and told her 'no charge' today.She was more than willing to pay 'something' for my time, and I probably should..my gut feeling was not to charge her, so I didn't..I wasn't there more than 10 minutes, and 1/2 of that time was spent putting that darn lid back on(2 pins on the bass side as opposed to a 'piano' hinge in back..uugh).I'm not looking for a pat on the back here..just curious if this is common practice amungst my peers..or do you truly feel I am not being fair to the tech. community.curious this morning,</blockquote> </html>