<html> <body> But "maybe" you'd already been there & forgot! :-D Sorry, couldn't resist! Avery At 01:33 PM 11/13/05, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> Dale, David,    A participant posed the question (he wasn't convinced of my idea, I think):  "So, what do you do when you walk in and find a ___ brand of piano, the tuning is good, the voicing is good and the regulation is good?"  The answer, "Raise your standards."   Well, I could go on...  ;-)   Barbara Richmond, RPT     <dl> <dd>----- Original Message ----- <dd>From: <a href="mailto:david@davidandersenpianos.com">David Andersen</a> <dd>To: <a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</a> <dd>Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2005 11:38 AM <dd>Subject: Re: JIV-jumping into voicing <dl> <dd> That said the goal is for an improved tone even if , in your own ears, it's not perfect. People/clients who really have ears to hear will except any improvement as a pleasure in the right direction. Truth be told there are sooo many lousy sounding pianos in the field because no one is asking the questions you are or at least not bothering to stab a few needles etc to risk for something possibly great! <dd> How I wish the bad habit of tune & run to the next tuning could be remedied. <dd> It's not real customer service IMHO. <dd>  I think I just changed the topic. Oh My! <dd>  Dale Erwin </dl> <dd>Great words.  In 25 years of working on pianos in LA, with the last 10 or so years mostly dedicated to good and expensive grand pianos, the number of pianos that had been maintained in any realm beyond tuning before I came on them was, and is, miniscule....1 or 2 percent, literally.  What a joke. <dd>And a tragedy, really, for our profession.  All this talk, endless talk, about pianos, and service, and how to do this and that with pianos, and then the harsh reality:  almost nobody’s actually doing it in good grand pianos in LA. Why?  Because “tune & run”  is the easy money. A no-brainer.  The average guy here charges $100-120.  Do six tune-and-runs a day, and you’re living large.  Do it five days a week, and it’s 3 grand a week, and baby’s got a new pair o’ shoes. <dd>On the other hand, just shoot me now if that’s what I have to look forward to: average clients, piano after piano in bad mechanical and tonal shape, and propagating the paradigm of “I don’t give a rat’s ass, so why should my clients?  Why should I educate them about tone and touch when it’ll just slow me down, make me work and acquire new skills, work new muscles, and (the final nail in the coffin:) <dd>‘anyway, none of my clients care or can hear or feel the difference.’” <dd>What a crock of s**t.  Everybody can hear and feel the difference, including, first and foremost, YOU. <dd>Don’t be a sellout.  Learn how t work on pianos past the tuning, and quit telling your self destuctive things, like nobody can hear or feel the difference....quit being so dang negative. <dd>End of rant.  Thank you. <dd>David Andersen </dl></blockquote></body> </html>