If you made a list of the 10 greatest techs you knew(not rebuilders... but those who tune, regulate and voice), which of their abilities/talents do you think are the most crucial.

Here are some I thought of: aural ability, mechanical ability, training, experience, love of the piano as an instrument, love of piano music, problem solving ability, communication skills.

Are any of them more/less critical in making a super super tech?

Other abilities I didn't mention that are important?

The ability to stay focused and concentrated for long periods of time. Patience. A tenacious sense of perfectionism whether real or imagined. In other words an attitude of "I'm not going to finish until it is as good as it can be".

The other abilities you mention are spot on.

I believe that humility is needed as well. Often times we work behind the scenes and do things that we do not get credit for but that need to be done anyway. The pianists that we are working for can get the ego gratification, and there's nothing wrong with that either.

I refer to that as the ability to sit down and do something 88 times over.

Well said BDB.

If one does a two pass tuning that's 88x2. If you move the lever five times to set each pin that's about 880 movements of a tuning lever just for one tuning. Multiply that by four or five tunings a day! Now add in the listening part that the ears and brain do and the all of the driving directions, the repairs, the communication with the clients. It is a lot of work.

That's why I would put ability to concentrate at the top of the list.

I'd vote for being able to collect your fee. A business gets pretty hard to manage if you never get paid.

In addition to tuning/regulating/repair skills:

The ability to drive 100 miles a day, every day, without tickets or accidents, or flipping off other drivers

The ability to eat and drive at the same time

The ability to run faster than the customer's dog (just kidding)

The radar to find unmarked homes with accuracy (made easier with GPS and cell phones)

The willingness to work any hour of the day, any day of the week

The willingness to sometimes work for less than minimum wage

The ability to smile when things are at their worst (ie tax time)

I agree.

The ability to listen:
to the tuning
to the voicing
to the customer's wishes

The ability to diagnose and solve problems quickly

What the other guys said:
maintaining focus on a single task for 88 notes/keys/action parts/hammers
driving skills and safety

Customer relations may be the most important of all.

Exceptional good looks, wit, charm, ready ability to master any piano in any circumstance, to leap tall uprights with a single bound, more powerful than a drop action, etc., and lastly, abject humility.

OK Sam, you're setting the bar pretty high! That last one's the stickler. I would have utmost pride in my humility if it didn't show up as such a glaring contradiction, so I settle for a small amount and hope no one notices.

'Good looks? Fugidaboutit! (me, not anyone else lest I be sent to Exile Island)

There are to many requirements to state them all or pick one over another that one must have to make one good, better or best technician but, I picked some...

1. Hearing. Some tuners think they can hear and do a nice job but they cannot. We must be able to hear everything. From tuning, to hearing rattles, buzzes and clicks. We must hear what customers are complaining about as mentioned above by problem solving, regulation issues or voicing problems and more.

2. Voicing is a talent. That talent is something that is learned and practiced a lot. Some techs have much better voicing talents than others due to more practice, better hearing and more patience.

3. Regulation. Regulation and voicing go hand in hand. If the piano is not properly regulated, hammers not properly mated etc., voicing and touch for voicing will be affected.

4. Patience. Lots of it. None of us always has enough of this.

5. Good aural skills is a requirement. Period. There is no guesswork involved. It is either right, or, it is wrong. Everything in between is also either right or wrong. Is there a good enough point? Sure, on the cheaper junkier pianos where great is not possible.

It is possible to have a HEALTHY ego and humility at the same time......so I've heard.

There's a big difference between "good enough" and "good as can be". Perfection is not possible on any piano but one can still strive for it. Striving for it can lead to a "top notch job" however.

The more experience a tech has ...

The smaller his tool bag ..

As I said Byron; "Is there a good enough point? Sure, on the cheaper junkier pianos where great is not possible." Refer back to number's 3 & 4.

!. The ability to sleep exactly 36 minutes per night, during the entire holiday season!!!!

2. The ability to say "no" to certain types of work. There is some money you don't need in your business, or so I've heard it said.

3. Beginner's mind. Always be a student, and don't get cocky. There is always somebody RIGHT around the corner who can do your job, so stay in the learning mode.

4. The ability to understand what your product is, and what it is not. The ability to refer work, when necessary.

5. A supportive partner (wife or husband, life-partner or whatever ya got)

6. The understanding that everything you say, everything you do, can and probably will become known to others. Thus, always act/write/comment as if you were speaking in public. It will save many embarrasments...

7. The ability to exhibit a bit of self discipline...and self control, i.e. the ability to earn the trust of husbands while you are in the home with their wives, or their kids etc etc. This is THE most important item perhaps. Without trust, your career is toast.

8. Everything else they said above.



FWIW

RPD

Yeah...I heard that Newton Hunt carried a tool bag roughly the size of a makeup kit.

How about an extra compartment for Fig Newtons?

RPD you're scaring the heck out of me. I don't want to leave the house this morning...

I've seen some REALLY BIG MAKEUP KITS....made for those that need it