Jerry,

Early morning for me tomorrow, too. I need to be case-open at 8:00 AM at a convent for two tunings. I have a total of 5 to do tomorrow.

Yeah, colleges....the pre-semester tunings in August are always pretty easy since no one is in the building. There are no classes to work around, etc., so I can go at an efficient, but comfortable pace without having to worry about a class come in just as I'm starting the treble break!

Yeah...that was the three of us Saturday night with our Druid cloaks standing on top of that hill, intoning and incanting in your general direction. Hope you understand.

RPD

Boy do I understand that emergency tuning in ten minutes thing. We had Neilson and Young piano duo at the college and the college brought in a Steinway 9' to match to the Baldwin 9' and they had to be tuned together 5 times in 3 days. Then the last evening they were there they had a big concert and I had to go out at intermission an brush up some notes, in front of how many noisy people standing talking. Felt like I should have been wearing a tux too... but the duo remarked to me before I left how nicely the pianos were tuned and thanked me for my efforts and time. Made me feel great. They could have been like so many others who think of our job as slave labor for the elite. Instead, I left feeling really proud of my work.
In my opinion, the most valuable tool I own is my integrity and honesty. Nothing can substitute for being the best you can as a person, doing the best you can as a tuner, and standing by your reputation to make sure things are right.
My apprentices help me a lot too, like your son does, Jerry. So often, they can be put on a job and get the most of it done and I just go back and in the gentle spirit of teaching, correct the problems and make it right, while helping them know they are doing good. Great teaching opportunities!
I use a craftsman lever, have for years, because of the lightness of the tool, I have others of course, but like that best. I never change the head, as I find the setup I use works in all situations so far. I do use a very short stubby hammer for grands, one of the AMS brand mini extention hammers... like the Schaaf mini. Don't even know if they still carry them, I think maybe not. This small hammer is not much bigger than my fist, but works great for grands for me. Most tuners I know think I am nuts for doing it that way, but hey, if it works, why not. I have an entire tuning kit, mutes, mini hammer, screwdriver, quartz tuner and all in a canvas bag that is maybe 8" long and as big around as a coffee cup. I like to watch people's eyes when I do a quick concert touch up and I unload this thing to do the job. They wonder where my tool bag is and I say "it is right here". After all, the tuner's number one tool kit is himself!

Strung bass strings in 2 more pianos today, two in a U1 and one in a S&S O. Then came home and practiced tuning on my old S&S V

Steinway grand, Kimball grand, Baldwin grand, Story & Clark (made by Yamaha) grand, and an old Gordon upright. Nice day!

Got my day completed. Drove 109 miles too. First appointment, nobody home. 15 minutes later, here comes the owner. Then, I tuned a Petrof grand.

Get this! When I went to put my shoes back on, one shoe was missing!! I said to my son, is it just me, or, is one of my shoes gone? They were amongst many other pairs of shoes there. He said, it's gone dad. They have no animals so, it couldn't have been that. I saw one of his shoes setting there and got to thinking. naaaaaaaaaaawww, he didn't??? I thought he took one of my shoes and one of his. We decided to venture into his bedroom on a whim because my son said he saw him walking into the bedroom carrying something. I'll be danged if we didn't find MY shoe in his bedroom closet!!! Now, there's a first! A shoe thief!

Went to the church next. Doors locked. Pastor not home. Sat in the car wondering, now what? Is this the way the day is going to be? 15 minutes later, someone happens to walk into the pastor's house so, I hollered HEY!!!!!! They looked and I got into the church. I set my son up in the church to tune the Kimblah 6' grand.

Next, I went and tuned a 7'5" Bosendorfer, sweet piano. She hadn't had it tuned since 2004 and it was still at A/442. Returned to the church, finished tuning the piano my son started. Went to lunch then right back to the church to tune the pastor's piano. Let my son tune part of it while I watched and then took over to get it done. Had 45 minutes to kill after that before I could get at the 2 pianos in the school at 4 PM.

The choir piano was a Yamaha C-3. I have given them an estimate to replace hammers, shanks, flanges, regulation and much more, the hammers were shot. Flat as pancakes. The school, deemed it "necessary" to "bid out" to another "tooner" for a lower bid. Of course, this jackass was about 1/2 my price and so they took it. And, of course, they are very unhappy with the piano and rightly so. The hammers are still flat, they are bumpy all over the place including the strike point. The regulation is way off, so far so that it has no after touch let alone let off. The let off is hitting the strings. Dampers are sticking like mad. The guide rail bushings need to be replaced. They are all gummed up. The pedal lyre is coming unglued. Took out the action, removed a bunch of crap and dirt. Fixed the pedal lyre, the pedal support rods were completely out of place. Lubricated (Proteked) the damper guide rail bushings for a quick fix for now.

Then, let my son tune that piano while I tuned the stage piano which was a Kawai Rx-6. Returned after that and finished tuning the Yamaha.

Boy, that was worth while for them to go with the lowest bidder wasn't it? Now it's going to cost them even more yet to fix what this jackass screwed up. Boy, I sure do wish people would realize that bidding work out to the lowest bidder is not all it is cracked up to be when it comes to piano tuning and repairing.

It's one thing to price shop when looking for a product. It's a completely different ball game when you start price shopping for someone's service and for quality.

There, I'm done ranting for now...

Taking the week off (except for phone calls). I'm hangin' with my 10 year old son, cleaning house, and enjoying my latest time-sink, on-line chess....I warn you, don't get started!

One job this week, a M and H B (not a BB, but a 5-something grand with a big sound). Other than that, it's pretty kicked back. The first time I've ever taken this week off, and it feels good!

I'll pay for this next week...

Now Jerry, instead of killing time, you could have tuned 2 more pianos in that slot!

Tuned a Yamaha C3, man is that thing bright... almost hurts the ears.

Jerry, you killed time?? :p

Let's see...today I started with a newer small Hobart M. Cable grand in a church, then a Charles Walter vertical in another church. From there, went to a Steinway O and did reshaping/voicing, vacuuming, soundboard cleaning, some light regulating, and tuned. That was a nice job and I was quite pleased with the end result. From there, went to another home and found an old stencil grand with tuning pins too loose to hold; scheduled the repair work for that one after Christmas.

And finally, (drum roll please), lowered a nice fairly new Baldwin L to A435. All in a day's work!

Ha Ha, Jerry, I've had maids and dogs steal my shoes. One dog chewed on it - it was a newer pair too! Slip on loafers are the rule with me. It took deep snow up north for me to get the boots out, because of the hassle putting boots on and off.

YA! And, today, tuned 3 this morning. Got started at around 9:30. Between looking for the blasted lights which I finally found, and then fiddling around trying to figure out how to shut them back out again, there went 30 minutes and, waiting for nobody to show up again before I realized, I had a key in my bag for the church, 20 more minutes. Heah, getting old SUCKS. But. I was still out of there by noon.



Coulda woulda shoulda. NOT! hahaha.

Ha haaaa! I to do another two posts in a row..

1. Today, tuned a nice Yamaha P202 that I've been tuning like clockwork since the piano was new in 1980. I regulated it, filed hammers, leveled keys, mated hammers to strings and strings to hammers and did some voicing back in May of this year. Came out great and still sounded good but was a little bit flat so, I raised it to pitch.

2. Tuned a Samick console. Raised 1/4-1/2 tone to 440. She was complaining about 4 notes that were not playing and said it has always been that way. The last tuner said, that's just the way some verticals are. Well, I found one of the hammers had popped out and had lodged itself between these other ones. Like DUH! The last person never bothered to tighten the butt plate screws in the back, like ever! I removed the action, tightened everything, put the hammer back in and all's well that ends well.

3. Tuned a Yamaha C-7.

4. Tuned a Yamaha P22.

5. All done! Bigggg boooooy!!

Kimball spinet, George Steck (older) console, Acrosonic spinet, and a Story & Clark console.

Now, on with Thanksgiving!!

Welllll, today was the last day of my full time job. (Auto parts sales) Gave my notice in October. Next week I get back to work at tuning and repairing pianos like I want to do. Sink or swim, gotta go after it.

Already have work lined up for my first week so maybe things will be okay. Had to take a job for a bit when the economy went south. But my work lately has picked back up to the point I can make it on my own.

That's good to hear Roy. Good luck!

Good luck and best wishes, Roy!

Yesterday I tuned a new Blüthner Model 2 (in a custom Pyramid Mahogany veneer that is spectacular), a new Kawai K5, a new Blüthner Model 4, and, after hunting down the source of a clicking noise, reglued a slightly loose catcher shank on a '74 Kawai that is definitely approaching the end of its musical life.

Nothing like tuning a Blüthner - the feel of the pins in the block is perfect, and the consistency of the pin tightness they achieve at the factory is extraordinary. There never seems to be even one pin that is even the slightest bit looser or tighter than the others. I also think that Bösendorfer achieves an exceptional consistency in this regard. (If only our beloved vintage Baldwins had pinblocks with these same characteristics!)

I'm had the chance to tune quite a few Blüthners with the aliquot strings - they are fascinating and add a beautiful dimension to the overall sound of the treble - and if you don't get them just right, you'll easily hear it! Especially on Models 1 and 2, the aliquot string effect is quite audible.

Yesterday tuned a 75 year old Gulbransen console that is still going very strong. Mostly due to the fact that this lady has tuned it pretty much yearly and has work done when required. It has a great tone yet. Then, I tuned a Story & Clark console with loose tuning pins but, holding. Barely. Number 3 was a Yamaha GH1 grand and an Everett studio built in South Haven Mi.

Today, I tuned 5. A Yamaha console, an Everett grand built by Yamaha, a Schimmel upright, a Petrof studio, an older Wurlitzer studio. Went out for lunch at around 1:00 PM when we were finished for the day.

Tuned 3 yesterday and looked at a repair job some other "technician" hammered. Tuned a 9' Baldwin grand for the college, and a Knabe upright in a classroom there. Training an apprentice at the same time I might add. He is doing quite well, proud of him, nice fella and great to talk to. Not smart mouth, and intelligent, yet only 24. Nice kid. Any way, left the college and tuned a Yamaha grand, G1 that has a humidity system installed. The piano is super nice and has not been tuned for a year, this time last year actually, and was still in need of only a good brushing. The humidity system is a plus for sure. The previous tuner for that piano messed it up so badly, that they fired him and called to college to find me. then I went to another church up the road from there, same "tech" and he is still at it there. The keys were sticking, notes didn't play, the voicing was the worst I have ever heard... one treble octave so muffled and soft that you could hardly tell the pitch, and others so bright your teeth hurt. They wanted me to evaluate the piano. O opened it up (yamaha c5) and the sights I beheld...
Well, there were several newer hammershanks, like 6-8, and most were the wrong ones. One had the end of the flange cut off to make it fit. That one had the hammer on crooked and it rubbed against the next hammer... thus sticky keys. But there was so little left of the flange, that I could not tighten it an dmake it hold. Had to put a shim in between the flanges to keep it straight. Would have liked to replace the shank, but so much damage done, thatthis would have been a waste of time in light of other issues. The hammers were filed flat-topped, and some were like bricks, others voiced to a fuzzy cottonball surface. The top hammer had been broken off, and laying inside. I can almost guarantee the damage was done by pulling the action out with keys depressed, snapping them off. Such a shame and so avoidable. I suggested new hammers, new shanks, a regulation, and FIRE THAT TECH!!! We'll see what happens. They complained of the piano having a thin jangly sound even after this stinker had "tuned" it. Yeah, knowing his work and hearing this piano just tuned 3 weeks ago, the thin sound and jangly noises could be corrected if the piano was properly tuned and maintained. The tuning was awful and the the tech was doing them no favors.
Today, tuned a white Yamaha c5 that hadn't been tuned since last year some time, and still just needed a brush-up. BTW, there were keys sticking, a pencil in the action. Wonderful piano and a huge voice. I have a Harriman grand to do this evening, needs lots of work, and I am looking a bigger grand of decent quality for them to replace it.

Got nailed on the freeway for going too fast; who ever heard of such a thing….. so the guy goes around the vehicle and ends up tapping on the passenger window.

I leaned over and opened the door; then I asked “do you need a ride? I can get you there in a hurry!”

He started laughing; said that was the best one he has heard in a while. Looked at my licence; gave me the attitude speech; let me go…..145 in a 90 zone…..wooopppppeeeeee I’m free!!

LOL good one! You have 90 MPH zones? 65 is the max here.

Today I did a Yamaha P2 in a church, then an old DuoArt mini-player. From there, an older Kawai grand on stage in a theater, then a trip to a historical society to do a very old Hughes upright. Finished off with a 70's vintage Hamilton at a convent. Nice full day! Horrible weather, though..cold and rainy all day.

My mistake.... that is kilometers. 80km=50mph

145 is around 90mph

Got some tuning done too in between; 4 UST 7's and a RX-2

Yesterday started worked with a mentor on regulating a S&S M action. Learn while you earn is a great thing..lol

It's been an all-American piano week for me so far. Steinways and Baldwins, exclusively, for Thursday and Friday. Among the notables: a Steinway "B", Steinway "CB", Steinway "L"...and a nice little 1942 Acrosonic, in which my father installed new bass strings and hammers "a while ago".

Always nice to experience the local crowd once in a while.

6 today. Mason & Hamlin A, older model Story & Clark console (of which I'm writing a separate thread about), Gulbransen console, Janssen spinet, Brentwood console, and a Yamaha GH1. Nice, busy day!

Just a Yammy G1 in a church and the lights were being rewired, so once again I find myself in the mushroom effect... in the dark.

I love speed! I got stopped a few days ago doing 50 in a 30 zone but, he let me off too!

Tuned a Yamaha grand, raised 1/4 tone. Removed the action, regulated the damper stop rail. Spaced many hammers over, hitting 2 notes when soft pedal was used and also regulated the treble cheek block screw for same. Tightened action screws on it too.

Tuned a Story & Clark studio. Been tuning this piano every December for 35 years.

Tuned an Everett console for a 90 year old woman and her 86 year old husband. Nice people. Raised it 1/4 tone to pitch. Nice piano too. They talked my ears off but, that's okay. We had some really good laughs.

HAH! Got my desired 3 done today!