I try to let dogs smell my hand. They assess things by scent, and once they get a whiff of you, they know you are okay. It can be a little nerve wracking, as their noses are so close to their teeth, but so far, no problems.

Its good to learn how dogs show anxiety and what things to look for, almost all breeds show these signs before an attack. Daschunds are the most likely breed to bite according to bite statistics by veteranarians.

One of those SOB weiner dogs bit me last year when I took my shoes off to go in a ladys house. it waited for my shoe to come off and clamped down on my socked foot. It set the world record for crossing a 12 foot room when my other foot gave him some swift persuasion (kick).

Some people are not dog smart either. They will bend down and stick their face right in a strange dogs face breathing on them...most dogs hate that.

Especially if you've just finished a garlic and anchovy pizza!

What did I do today, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Let's seeee.. OH, that's right! I just came home from vacation!

Tuned two Yamaha grands for the dance program at the university. Both had not been tuned in a year, and neither was very far out today. I had a chance to discuss the program with the head of it. Over the 20 years or so I have been tuning for them, these discussions have improved the program, I think.

No wonder the dog bit you...Oh, wait, was that after the dog bit you?

ddf

Repaired a grand leg that was separating, tuned a Baldwin M and prepped a Kawai for delivery.

After, of course. Or, maybe before? I ain't tellin!!! haha But, the poor doggie was put to sleep for biting to many people... The vet said the dog had bitten a few times to many...

Finally, Monday was a day off, meaning no pianos were tuned. Paperwork was still shuffled around. My ears loved the break. It's back to school tuning time!

Finished re-pinning the hammer flanges on a Schwander action for a Welmar upright. It's been frustrating, because
... different bushings reacted differently to the broaching, burnishing and pin lubrication (Protek CLP). Sometimes even the two bushings in the same flange reacted differently.
... a few days down the line, some centres became noticeably tighter (2 to 3 half-swings in stead of 4 to 5), while others became marginally looser (5 to 6 half-swings).

Now to replace the tape ends, then the action with re-shaped hammers can go back into the piano for hammer mating etc. Looking forward to it...

orientation in the bushing cloth, same direction to extract and to install the new pin, plus burnishing, using long centers, and water/alcohol final adjustment if necessary. centers up to 1350, occasional 1375, new cloth if 1400 necessary. old Schwander cloth is not so good, very dry.

After watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqTwnAuHws&sns=em

on TV this morning, headed out to a brand new church client. Hopes were high for a nice large grand and maybe a newer vertical. After the nice pastor gave me tour of the grand old church, he showed me the two pianos.....

Oh oh....two 50-60 year old spinets. Oh well.....

Don

Tuned a piano that I tuned last over 20 years ago. It needed a pitch raise.

How far out was it?

Perhaps a quartertone over all but the top two octaves, and less than a semitone there. It had dropped fairly evenly.

Tuned three pianos yesterday that I had tuned about this time a year ago.. a very nice Yamaha Upright, a 1980's era Kimball console, and an early 1900's Wm. Knabe upright. Last year the Kimball and Knabe had not been tuned in several years and required large pitch raises. I was happy to see that this year, all three were only a few cents off for the most part. Each only took about 45 minutes to touch up. It was a good day!!!!

Yesterday I had a Melbourne petite grand, two keys not working, 8... I repeat 8 kids having breakfast 5' from me, then playing with a remote car, dish washing, talking...TG for ETD's. Broke two strings... please get me home.

Re-bushing Knabe keys today, both rails and tearing into a split out bass bridge.

September was my best month ever... did 20 tunings, along with a grand leg repair, a bass bridge and key top job. I really like this work... thanks so much to the techs here that have helped me along on my new career.

Thank you Frank Baxter for Piano World... you have changed my life...

Tonight, I had the pleasure of hearing a wonderful chamber music concert at Klavierhaus in NYC, in a wonderful small concert hall in the back of the store that has been remodeled with acoustics in mind. The Memling Ensemble's first concert of their series at Klavierhaus, with Harp, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Violoncello, and Piano. Music from Telemann, Pergolesi, Mozart, Bizet, Debussy, and Kreutzer, all beautifully played. Btw, these are free concerts...you can check with Klavierhaus as to the future dates.

There was a big surprise at the piano that was used. It was a 1910 Hamburg Steinway, originally owned by Mr. Guggenheim, specifically made for his wife, in an incredibly ornate hand-painted case, which was totally restored per the original, at Klavierhaus. From what they told me, Mr. Guggenheim had it hand-painted for his wife's birthday. What a beautiful piano, and it sounded great. I took a few pictures with my Iphone. It's valued at over $1,500,000+....and it's for sale...any takers? There was a recording made, and I will try and get a movement on box.net, if they will allow it.

Here are a few pictures of this beautiful instrument.

Wow!

I pulled up this thread to talk about the late 70's Aeolian spinet I worked on this morning, but after seeing those pictures, I don't freaking think so...

Hey Opera Tenor...that's ok....we are all in the 'real' world That piano is in another galaxy. LOL.

That piano has got to be one of the most beautiful if not the most beautiful, painted art-case pianos in the world.

I forgot to mention the serial # of this piano....123000.

I just saw what must be the first Christmas tree of the season in a client's home. All decked out, lights a-flashing. And we are still a few weeks away from Hallowe'en!

But then again, the cold wind is whipping the first snow around as I finish up my annual piano servicing tour of Arctic Canada and head home to the warmer Pacific shores. Man, I sure wish we had those magnificent Northern Lights at night though!

Had a strange dayyesterday. Looking for a lost pin on a pedal rod in the bottom of a console in the morning. With my little mirror, I spot it laying in the gap behind the plate. Magnetic pickup tool is too large to fit so I try fishing it out with a thin pair of tweezers that are just not quite long enough to reach it. The tweezers slip out of my fingers and end up on top of the pin. Go out to my car and get some Juicy Fruit gum from the glove compartment. Make a little bend on a piece of piano wire and stick the gum to it.... works at getting both out of that tight space. Make note...carry gum with me on all future jobs.

I promised a new client I would drop in on them after my afternoon job since they were nearby. The lady called me the night before and said her grandaughters piano had continuous sustain on all the notes and was unplayable because of it. Well I show up and behold, its a small Yamaha digital piano. Since I was there already, I poked around on it, unplugged it, replugged it, jiggled the mechanism and connectors on the sustai pedal. Must have been a bad connection or something since I got it to work. Make note for myself....if I even have the slightest doubt that a prospective client knows absolutely nothing about pianos...politely ask if the "piano" needs to be plugged into the wall to make a sound. I get one of these calls about once a year and don't usually ask new clients if its really an accoustic piano...I feel like I'm insulting the intelligence of 99% of the people out there who know the difference.

There was something in the Digital forum about holding the damper pedal as you turn the instrument on, so that the electronics can decide the proper way for it to work. It is something you can put in your bag of tricks if you get a call like that again.

Recapping a bass bridge today....

Ha Ha, I had one of those today - second one this year. It turned out to be a Yamaha digital grand in a restaurant store room, and there was grease all over cabinet, even under the lid. Someone had removed all the cabinet parts to expose the action. The action worked fine, but it was lacking the power cord, so I passed the job to the Yammie tech with detailed instructions on what "cleaning" would entail.

Asking a client about a power cord won't work, due to the Dampp Chaser power cords and player systems. Ask if the piano has a power switch. If the piano works without turning a switch on, I'm interested.

Calls to "tune" a digital piano are going to be on increase as more are sold, and more break. Personally, I charge the min service call charge when that occurs.

Spraying a piano cabinet the same colour as the ocean in the Bahamas...aqua blue...

I'll be able to confirm that color on a future trip there. Can't wait! We are heading into our summer here, and the temp is finally dropping into the 80's. One of the neighbors keeps finding baby rattle snakes - one in the garage, another in the yard. Given the birth rate, 7 or 8 babies are still crawling around the neighborhood. Hopefully, the black racer snakes will eat them. Stepping carefully here.

Just finishing up the final top coats Bob….I will take a couple of shots and post them here later…..

Quitting early today; gotta get down to the dome for the big game tonight! First place is up for grabs in the west division of the CFL.

In Chicago today for my 4th treatment of Prolotherapy by Dr. Hauser. www.caringmedical.com in case anyone is interested. I get my treatment tomorrow afternoon afterwhich, I am staying the night and then heading back home and then, Wednesday morning, we are heading up to Boyne city to stay for 2 nights because we have to go to a funeral for my wife's aunt. Yuck. Not looking forward that one!!! We were both very close to her. Consequently, I had to cancel my tunings for the rest of the week. My biggest problem, is trying to find time to put them in somewhere else because I'm booked solid! Good and bad thing when things like this take place....

I spent a few hours doing some repairs on this lady's piano:

www.lisafirestone.com

and earlier in the week, I worked on this gentleman's piano:

http://www.tzimonbarto.com/