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<DIV>"Concert pianos on stages and console pianos in living rooms are =
not the
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."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Is that because a Steinway grand is harder to tune? Do you charge =
50% for
the console? I don't understand your policy here. Please clarify. If my =
auto
mechanic did a significantly better tune-up on my neighbor's new Lexus =
than on
my 18-year-old car, I would not be happy with him/her at all. Is this =
what is
going on here?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Terry Farrell <SPAN =
id=__#Ath#SignaturePos__></SPAN> </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> Saturday, August 04, 2001 =
1:58
PM</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><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px =
solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE">A tuner who does a cheap job in an hour or so, may well =
leave
the piano <BR>sounding quite good, but in all probability it will
deteriorate within a <BR>few hours, days or =
weeks.</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>I
copied this phrase from the website it was suggested to visit. =
That is
<BR>precisely my point about presenting the EBVT or any other tuning =
at the
<BR>Convention. 45 minutes is just enough time to set oneself up =
to
ridicule. <BR>Any of the tunings I did for the Baldwin recitals =
took
6-8 hours. I lost <BR>track of the many hours I put in on the =
Walter
piano on which the EBVT was <BR>presented at the Convention in =
Providence.
<BR><BR>Even in the response article I wrote about this event, I =
conceded that
<BR>perhaps I was the "winner" of the event more because I had the =
best
sounding <BR>piano and had spent many, many hours tuning it before I =
had it
locked in to <BR>the program I had designed for it, each of the 88 =
notes
accurate to within <BR>1/1000 of a semitone. And certainly, =
there were
those who were disturbed by <BR>and questioned my hours of relentless
pounding. <BR><BR>Yet, it's true that the ordinary, every day tunings =
I do
usually take less <BR>than an hour. Many of my customers are =
repeat
customers for whom I have <BR>tuned for many years. It simply =
doesn't
take any longer than that and their <BR>pianos also meet a very high =
degree of
perfection in tuning, well beyond the <BR>standards of the PTG Tuning =
Exam.
<BR><BR>Concert pianos on stages and console pianos in living rooms =
are not
the 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. Time spent on any particular tuning =
is all
relative to the <BR>circumstances. <BR><BR>Tomorrow, I will go to the =
Frank
Lloyd Wright estate to tune for the concert <BR>series going on there =
now.
It will take me about 30 minutes to tune the 9 <BR>foot =
Bechstein grand.
I know that because that's all the time it has taken <BR>me for =
several
years now but each note will be solidly locked on the program <BR>I =
designed
for that piano some 10 years ago. Then I have to tune the
<BR>harpsichord, (and that will probably take twice the time) then =
make the 35
<BR>mile trip to meet my call as a principal singer and actor in the =
Bernstein
<BR>show, On The Town. Making the costume change from the first =
scene to
the <BR>next one I'm in takes about the same amount of time that it =
takes to
tune the <BR>Bechstein. <BR><BR>As it turns out, the concert tuning I =
will do
on the 9 foot Bechstein will <BR>take the very least amount of time of =
all the
activities I will do that day, <BR>including showering and shaving.
<BR><BR>Bill Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT>
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