Hello All,
Ok, I went to his house yesterday evening to take a look at C1. Carl, you were correct, C1 had risen about 20 cents sharp. So I fixed it accordingly to Cybertuner while he was watching. (He is an absolute aural-phobic. I think he had a bad experience with a technician that "tuned strictly by ear", because every time I tune for him he insists that I use "the machine" and that I "don't tune by ear at all." .... I don't tell him that I tune unisons by ear, though.)
Then he tried it, and said "I know it's just perfect, but... could you maybe lower it just a bit?" So I lowered it about 5 cents, he listened and asked again. So again I lowered it, and again, and again... in the end, he wanted it about 40 cents flat of where it should be, by aural standards and CyberTuner.
But he was a happy camper in the end, and was just so pleased that I would come back, especially once he saw how off he wanted the note. And, it turns out that he's a instrument-phile, and especially loves restoring old instruments. Hey, it's a small world after all. (Please don't start singing.)
Thanks for the help everyone,
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Benjamin Sanchez
Professional Piano Services
(805)315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.comBenPianoPro@comcast.net------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-29-2017 12:54
From: Peter Grey
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Also interested in the outcome.
Pwg
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Peter Grey
Stratham NH
603-686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com
Original Message:
Sent: 12-29-2017 11:19
From: Larry Fisher
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Mr. Sanchez, try putting a very small dab of wood glue on the tuning pin somewhere where it won't be seen. If it's tuned while you're gone, the glue will fall off when the errant tuning lever touches it.
School and church work can sure make mush out of a technician's world in a hurry with just one person's words .... qualified or not. Jump on this one and protect yourself all the while providing good customer service. Good luck. Let us know.
Lar
Happy New Year.
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Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
360-256-2999
Original Message:
Sent: 12-14-2017 10:57
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Thanks all. Admittedly, I was a little frustrated with him. But you're absolutely right. This business is about service; thanks for reminding me of it.
------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez
Professional Piano Services
(805)315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.com
BenPianoPro@comcast.net
Original Message:
Sent: 12-14-2017 01:13
From: Willem Blees
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
That's very good advice from Ed. One thing to also consider is that he might have a hearing problem. That will effect what he hears.
It's a touchy subject, but something you need to consider.
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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789
Original Message:
Sent: 12-13-2017 20:41
From: Ed Sutton
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Benjamin-
Perhaps you have an opportunity to practice your approach to good customer relations.
My business advisor once said to me "All relationships are based in forgiveness."
So here is a situation where you have admitted and corrected a mistake, and now your customer wants a little more attention.
You could use this as a chance to show him you really want him to enjoy his piano.
Even if all sounds fine to you, you can listen carefully to his concern, and let him see you are really trying to hear what bothers him.
You can tweak the tuning and voice the hammer a little and ask if it sounds better.
Be very careful to not turn it into an "I'm right, you're wrong" situation.
You may develop a loyal customer who passes your name on to his friends.
------------------------------
Ed Sutton
ed440@me.com
(980) 254-7413
Original Message:
Sent: 12-13-2017 18:17
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Did the phone evaluation last night. Just sounds too bright to me. Had him run 17ths and octaves, everything checked out. But, "if you were here you'd hear it differently." So I lined up with him a time that's convenient for me, and hopefully will be in and out in 2 minutes flat...
Thanks again,
------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez
Professional Piano Services
(805)315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.com
BenPianoPro@comcast.net
Original Message:
Sent: 12-13-2017 09:46
From: Peter Grey
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
I also suspect some "game playing" here. Interested to know the upshot of it.
Pwg
------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
603-686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com
Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2017 14:56
From: Willem Blees
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Benjamin
shen you back to check the note again, just matter of factlt ask your customer what tuning hammer he has. I suspect that this guy is trying to tune the note himself. When you've got it in tune again ask him if it sounds OK to him. He might tell you he thinks it's flat.
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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789
Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2017 13:42
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: C1 Going Sharp
Hello all,
One of my clients that I had tuned for 2 weeks ago called me at the beginning of last week, saying that C1 had drifted sharper than D1. Ok, it's a decent piano, I'll go check it out. So I get there, and C1 makes a perfect octave with D2. Ouch. So I retune C1 to form an octave with C2, and leave. I figured I had accidentally changed my ETD to D1, then tuned C1. That's what I thought until last night. This is weird because I check everything aurally, and did a complete check of the piano. Nothing at the time said "gross mistake".
Last night at 9:00 the same guy texts me and says C1 has drifted sharp again. I responded, but haven't heard anything back yet.
The piano is a Baldwin Hamilton upright, needs some work but in good condition. Holds its tune well (except for C1, apparently). Pins / pinblock are in good condition. Any ideas as to what's happening?
My thoughts are: maybe the C1 is brighter than its neighbors? Or perhaps the humidity is doing something weird (the piano is right by the window). Any thoughts?
(No, I don't excessively pound the keys when I tune. But he might when he plays it, I'm not sure.)
------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez
Professional Piano Services
(805)315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.com
BenPianoPro@comcast.net
------------------------------