<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 9/4/01 10:05:32 PM Central Daylight Time,
<BR>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com (Farrell) writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Please tell me that no techs around here "penalize" a piano owner for having
<BR>a piano that is off pitch - whether it was last tuned last week or in 1962.
<BR>Please tell me we simply charge for our labor and expertise.
<BR>
<BR>Am I weird that this would grind me in a bad way?
<BR>
<BR>Terry Farrell
<BR>
<BR>P.S. Sorry for using your post as an example Rozan - not trying to pick on
<BR>you - but we see this reference in so many posts and I wonder why.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR>
<BR>In my opinion, Rozan did the right thing. It is normal in this climate for
<BR>the low tenor of many pianos to undergo as much as a 60 cent change of pitch,
<BR>up and down on an annual basis. There are circumstances where A-440 is an
<BR>absolute requirement but most of the time, a technician would be fighting the
<BR>unbeatable for to insist upon it at all times of year, especially if this
<BR>means charging 150%-200% the going rate.
<BR>
<BR>These seasonal pitch changes do not affect the whole piano uniformly. The
<BR>task, during one extreme part of the season or the other, is to find the
<BR>*reasonable* pitch to tune to. As an aural tuner, one strong suggestion I
<BR>have is to take the pitch from A2. Raise or lower your A3 to match it, do
<BR>your first pass from that pitch, then your second from wherever A3 ends up.
<BR>This, of course is on a piano that gets tuned frequently. You can always
<BR>afford to raise a flat piano in Summer and lower a sharp piano in Winter.
<BR>
<BR>In the continental climate, where the humidity goes from very low to very
<BR>high and back again every year, it is foolish to believe that all but a very
<BR>few pianos can be tuned in a single pass, even with ETD pitch change
<BR>calculations. It has often been written on this List that in the US Midwest,
<BR>*every* tuning is a pitch raise (or change). The market won't quite support
<BR>$150 tunings here. Still, there are techniques for getting 2 complete passes
<BR>done in 45 minutes or less and that's what I do routinely.
<BR>
<BR>Bill Bremmer RPT
<BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT></HTML>