Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum So, what did you do today?

I'm slowing down (intentionally) now after the first of the year. I'm still booked a month in advance but, am 'only' tuning 4 a day right now, 3 on some, 5 on other days. I'm working at my college again this week. Nice relaxing pace right now.... I can finally keep up!

Only did 2 today because of slick roads. One Schimmel 7' with 2 sticking jacks, and a Kawa RX-1 10 years old and never been tuned. Half tone pitch raise and a fine tune. Then some paper work and scheduling.

I was just thinking yesterday about how I rarely have a chance to practice string splicing or tying a 'tuners knot'. This is one of the first things I learned how to do when I started out as a piano tuner. I'm very glad it is something that I learned how to do because it has saved me a few times. I would practice using bread- ties with the paper covering removed just to remember how the bends go. The last piano of the day was an old Sherman Clay console with very bent tuning pins. It was only 10 cents flat so I'm going along from A1 down to A0 and back up to the tenor and KER---SNAP! the first wound string at the tenor break broke at the coil. "Oh good, time to polish up the knot tying skills".
Two holes in the thumb and a few pints of blood later and she was up and running again. I enjoy doing that repair for some strange reason.

5 today.
P-22 for a historic little church that served as a Civil war union battle hospital.

Everett Grand circa 1915 with tight jacks. 1st dose of CLP got most 2nd dose the rest. House was in a gated community, at the end of a cul-de-sac, up a steep drive to a big brick house. Drove my RAV4 60ft up the snow covered drive, lady was outside spreading salt. We go in, I go to work, she comes back white as a ghost. "You won't believe this: Your car slid all the way down the drive to the street. No damage, just sitting there at the end of the drive." So there it sat till I was done.

Krell-French Upright barely alive.

Kawai studio in Episcopal Church.

Yamaha G3 in High School vocal.

All dry and flat.

Forgot one: SD10 for big Baptist church. 6 today.

I did five...but it was pretty much a dog day, except for a brand new Kawai K-3 upright.

A 1928 Schumann Grand, really close to being in tune...60c flat! Given the rust on the strings and pins, 440 was not an option. Left it at 424.5

Rental conversion Wurlitzer console

Schiller upright that came from Nebraska, and was signed by many tuners over the decades

Quite possible the worst piano I've seen in some time, a Westbrook spinet, yet another rental converstion.

Ah yes, Westbrook. I have a church that has many nice pianos and 1 Westbrook spinet. All are tuned every 6 and the Westbrook is either wildly sharp or wildly flat. I've told them many times the wreck would make a fairly decent boat anchor.

I went to the Noontime Concert, where somehow I was picked out to help move the piano. It was French cello music.

Then I went to tune a very nice Janssen studio for the sister of a very famous movie star who died fairly young. There was a photograph of her with her arm over her head, and I could not help but think despite the tragedy of her untimely demise that it was fortunate that she died before she began to have trouble holding her arm like that. The sister was charming, and gave me some cookies, according to Russian holiday tradition.

5 again today. Everett studios, Baldwin studios and Kawai UST-8's. Tuned last in September, RH was 52 % now 18 %.

You know the pianos I have always enjoyed tuning? Maybe I'm just slightly prejudiced here, but they are the older Everett studios that were built in South Haven Michigan. We used to have a lot of these pianos at my college. We've replaced many of the oldest and most worn out ones yet, we still have quite a few left. They are now 45-50 years old and still holding up strong. They don't look so red hot anymore thanks to the little kiddies but they are solid pianos.

Some others that we still have left there are the older Baldwin and Hamilton studios also about 45-50 years old. All of them are fairly nice tuning and quite solidly built pianos over all I think back in those days.

Just about all of those old studios were pretty good. I thought the Janssen was a pretty good model for Charles Walter to build his business on.

Have an Janssen that I handed down to my great Niece to play. Now I find myself doing maintence on it.... how come it was never done for me when I played...uhm

Everetts were always dandy. Those steel post versions were a killer to move!

8 today.
Nice Acro console.
Nordiska Studio.
Lovely old Geo. Steck grand, all original, perfect set of ivories. Lady had her humidifiers going stong and the piano was on the fork.
Kimball spinet.
SS D and 5' Estonia in Methodist Ch. Last year church put in pipe organ and spent 12K on sancturary humidity control. Music director and I share a passion for wine and he gave me a belaed Xmas present of Chateau Neuf. DEEELIGHTFUL.
Baldwin grand I recondititoned and sold 28 years ago and tuned yearly since.
Krakhaur Console circa 1939, beautiful case and ivories. Owner had the original paperwork. Was 1/2 step flat and did a pitch raise.

I liked these alot, and even owned one. Solid pianos, good value, pleasing sound and touch.

I did 3 yesterday. Nice day! 1 UST-8. 2. Story & Clunk, er, Clark studio, not a nice tuning piano. 3. Yamaha U 1 made in Japan. Love those pianos.

Nine yesterday, 6 today (# 7 wasn't tunable) 9 to tune on Sunday, 5 on Monday, and Tues/Wed shop work/off/no tunings/yea.

My day, drilled two Steinway pinblocks and sold a piano.
Think I'll call it a day.

Same here...Jane's got me booked solid into Feb, but I'm travelling 4 days per week, and booking around 5 per day it seems...a VERY nice pace after a Christmas rush that can only be described as insane.

But today...Saturday...I was underneath an M&H Ampico reproducer, doing the final touches before delivery later this month. So, my day was spent trying to avoid the cute lickings of my husky-shepherd Luna, who finds my lying on the floor under a piano simply irresistable.

YMMV

RPD

I've been taking Zicam since Wednesday...every 3 hours...Today was spent eating...watching football. So far my cold is not progressing, so I think I started the Zicam early enough. Colds are a huge problem for me. Fortunately, I don't get them very often. I live and tune in an area with big elevation changes. So, if I'm stuffed up and drive to an area lower in elevation...the ears plug...and "there ain't no tunin' when that happens."

Went to a class on aural tuning taught by Richard Bittner RPT.
He came down to S.D. CAL. from the NAMM show to share his knowledge with us here. A very fine tuner and a great guy.

I've spend most of my time in the workshop, lately, giving tunings to a friend, as I have 2 grands together to work on and am abit late on one of them. Thats OK for me , as I have suffered from diverse flu those last months, plus avoiding the transportation in car or motorcycle in Paris town is cool , only misses me the contact with customers.

Yesterday I bring back together at the pianists place all the parts of a Yamaha U1 vertical with silent system installed that had to be dismounted when he moved. keyboard/keybed apart, sides, silent system.

After putting all together, a new setup of the keyboard sensors is necessary (even if basically they are yet working). I is very easy to do - one record the condition of the sensor without the keys, then with the keys at rest, the, each key is pushed lightly top record the bottom position.

The sides are glued but very easy to dismount, things fall in place easely in the other direction.

Some old houses here have very tight stairs, because an elevator have been added for instance. The movers are very good to spin the grand pianos on the tail, or verticals on an edge to pass tight corners, but there is a limit. then the verticals have to be taken apart only to enter the flat.