Discussion Posts

Since this topic has morphed into the pros and con of electric vehicles, one of the prime reasons I am not considering one is the range and power. I have a Pathfinder which I use to pull a 5000 lbs camping trailer. My wife and I are on a 6000 mile "vacation". ...

Tuning internationally for concerts and festivals I rely on the airline I use in Europe being willing to put a cabin bag in the hold of an aircraft cheaply, for much less than they charge for standard hold luggage. However, that's now changed . . .  ...

Well, I work in Rural Northern California (where gas is at $6.00 in many places) and my tunings are sometimes 15 minutes from my house, and sometimes 1-1/2 hours (One way, not round-trip), so I do charge travel time (after all, besides the fuel & wear ...

This is an update on the situation . I thoroughly went through the piano regulation yesterday and the day before determine to get this piano playing properly both as a piano and a piano disc player. The action spread was off a tiny amount on each end. ...

When I lived in California I drove varying distances everyday, and charged different rates for different areas (a different travel fee for each area, but worked into the overall cost). Since moving to Alabama, the vast majority of my clients live within ...

Ben, If you don't charge some kind of travel fee, how can you account for the vast disparity of mileage to different customers? I can't possibly charge the same price for someone a mile away as for a customer 90 miles away (yes, I drive that far...).  ...

I rented a Prius a few weeks ago and really liked it (except for the weird thing obstructing the view out the rear window). I'm thinking that hybrids are the way to go until the electric thing ifs fully mature. Don't forget, there's more to the car decision ...

My wife drives a 2009 Prius. It has 254,000 miles. Original hybrid battery. Great car for what it is. Amazing space for cargo. New hybrid battery last year was around $1800 (not through Toyota). They'll come to our house to do the replacement. ------------------------------ ...

Thomas I recall hearing something similar, although I've never actually done this repair. You would need to release the tension on all the strings, remove the rim bolts, and any nose bolts. Then look at the side of the plate at the pin block area ...

So Benjamin, I'm ahead of the game with a 10 year old Prius with 200,000 miles on it! ------------------------------ Larry Messerly, RPT Bringing Harmony to Homes www.lacrossepianotuning.com ljmesserly@gmail.com 928-899-7292 ------------------------ ...

Also keep in mind that electricity is mostly generated by...fossil fuels. And states like  California can barely supply its own electrical needs now . Electric vehicles aren't sustainable yet. But that might be a feature and not a bug. ------------------------------ ...

Not to mention increased electricity bills due to charging it at your house, as well as the actual cost of the charging system. I'm sure I'm some cases this is included with the EV, but I know in many cases it's not.  ------------------------------ ...

Ben, Always good to do a cost/benefit analysis. My suggestion in rethinking such things was to include cost to the planet and where we might be going there. Richard

Don't forget to out aside an extra $10,000 or so for when those EV batteries need replacing... ------------------------------ Scott Cole, RPT rvpianotuner.com Talent, OR (541-601-9033 ------------------------------

Pat, last year I bought a new Rav 4 Prime. In Hybrid mode it gets around 43 mpg. I prefer driving on elec. with the battery charged. But when I can't plug it in, the gas takes over.  Both gas and elec. gets roughly .10 cents/mile. A better vehicle than ...

Richard, I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and ...

And the better electric vehicles retail for at least twice the price of the "legacy" fossil fuel consuming/polluting vehicles. Price your services so you can make the conversion. PS If your service area isn't vast (i.e., city or dense suburb) there are ...

I used to charge a travel fee, but for years it's just been worked into my price. I typically raise my price once a year, usually by the amount of inflation, rounded up to the next highest $5. (Charging $xx3.68 for a service call is just weird.) This ...

I'll try one more message before moving on:) ------------------------------ Tom Dowell Hulbert Piano tom@hulbertpiano.com 262-221-0792 ------------------------------

Hi!  I restrung my Kawai KG-6C last year and got interested in proper placements of the aliquots.  About the upper half of the notes have the back duplex section undamped, so the non-speaking lengths can resonate.  Now, I know one thing the aliquots do ...

I recently raised my rates after 5 years at the same rate. It's not gas, only. It's everything else has gone up a lot as well. With Diesel prices going through the roof, everything will continue to add to inflation, not just our driving needs. Again, ...

Scott - I forgot to disagree with one other point you made. They are in fact NOT difficult to transport to a dump! Drop the plate on some concrete and the small pieces are easy to handle. The case cuts easily with a chain saw or even a saws-all. AMHIK!!! ...

Scott C. wrote: "... they do not play or sound like modern instruments, and many do not consider them appropriate as learning instruments, especially for an advancing student." I do not agree with your last point referenced above. A well-playing ...

Chris,  I think you have a valid point. Let's encourage, not discourage, new technicians. However, new technicians, square grand owners, and those acquiring them, should just be aware of some basic aspects of the instruments in order to make a reasoned ...

A possible related development might be rethinking driving efficiency, i.e., saving gas dollars by less driving and buying more efficient vehicles. Richard West

Wim, It's an excellent question, one I've considered. I wonder how many technicians lowered their tuning fees in the wake of the 2008 crash? I'm guessing most people held the same fees, instead delaying typical occasional increases. One could argue that ...

Am I running a non profit agency? No. Profit is good. Inflation has been rising on many fronts in the past 2 (or so) years. If a true hard-impact recession results in ALL prices (not just gasoline) crashing, sure, my tuning price might shrink a bit. ...

Especially one that still plays minus a few quirks. She may not be perfect but once the bugs are ironed out she will be perfect for this piano to be the one of many my son and hopefully myself learn how to play on. ------------------------------ Joshua ...

Still, its a little odd that someone comes onto a piano forum to learn how to fix a piano, and he's encouraged to destroy the thing. Sure, when its no longer wanted and its better to re-purpose than going to the dump. But when somebody wants to fix and ...

Thank you, I am trying to take lots of pictures, and will start taking more and more notes the more I dive into this, Hopefully Joe will be able to chime in soon. I am looking for the last 2 treble hammer assemblies, I just got the maple to remake them ...

A question about raising tuning fees because of higher gas. I think most of us would agree that the price of gas will eventually come down. Will you lower your tuning fee when it does? Wim. Sent from my iPhone

Patrick, Isn't it a question of what you call it? You don't have to call it a "fuel fee." You can just call it a "standard mileage rate." ------------------------------ Scott Cole, RPT rvpianotuner.com Talent, OR (541-601-9033 ---------------------- ...

Fuel fee add on? Nope. It's a cost of business, like insurance, tools, vehicle ownership, etc. Adjust your prices. Work at getting away from fossil fuels (panels on your roof, mini splits for heat & A/C, buy an EV). Currently driving a gas hog RAV4, I ...

Here's a request and a public service "heads-up": First, the Journal rarely has anything on square grands. Ok, yes, I hear the applause…. For anyone out there working on one, please document as much as you can in photos and send it in to the Journal. ...

$4/gallon? I'm going to drive over there to fill up! We're at $5.15 in Oregon. I've raised my mileage rate. I don't charge for a 10-mile radius, but I'm thinking of changing that too. I used to have a zone rate-this much for this city, etc. but distances ...

I've made two work tables out of 2 square grands. A 7' Zimmermann is in my shop and the other I gave to another tech when I closed my retail space. Pianos haven't been selling like they used to, for a long time now. Yesterday, I passed on tuning a S&S ...

Hey Bill - I'm on board with you! The past few days I have been cutting and gluing up front and middle seats (with battery holder) for my fishing canoe. I've exclusively used lumber I salvaged from the keybed of an 1880s Brown & Sons square that I found ...

Is any one charging a fuel fee to help with the increase on full costs ? Our gas prices in SC are all above $4 a gallon and in the Boston area, CT and NJ where I was recently is was closer to $5 a gallon. I have a 19 gallon tank so its $76 to fill @ $4 ...

Thanks, Wim. Wasn't sure whether Yamaha would be faster or not. I have enounter very few Bosendorfers in the 40 years I've been a tech, and never had to replace anything on the few I did encounter. I've emailed Dave and I'll hope for the best! Barb

The dinner table was not the only one thus "re-purposed". There's another one in the shop on which rests a 7'x3.5'slab of granite — architectural, with a polished face. (There, now I've said it.) ------------------------------ William Ballard RPT WBPS ...

If you have the serial number, contact Dave Durben at Yamaha, ddurben@yamaha.com, and ask him for the model. They will even provide you with the strings you need. Wim

I'm trying to get a replacement string for a Bosendorfer grand. I saw in the ptg forum that J D Grant has the specs for these. But of course they need the model and all I could find was a serial number. The piano is a 2 hr drive from me but I can get ...

If the front of the rocker arm is touching or very close to the key and you need to get more height, place a spacer under the rocker arm to gain the height you need (do the set). BTW every adjustment on these is very tediously time consuming, again and ...

Most of us *can* do that work. However, it's something that takes an inordinate amount of time because parts must be made custom. Quickly turns into diminishing returns for our time. And it's not something we can adequately teach via a forum. In the end, ...

I see your points and respectfully disagree :-) unicorns need love, otherwise we wouldn't have ford pinto groups, square grand groups, or salt and pepper shaker collectors groups.  The world needs more people to keep these unicorns alive. ------------------------------ ...

Or, at the point when you're 20% into this large project, you and your wife realize 1.) there are much more practical ways of showing her your love, and 2.) even if your love was near-infinite, it still couldn't guide and sustain you through the other ...

For me, it usually seems to be right when I bid between $700-$1000 for a job and the client gives me 'the face,' then says, "Oh really? We were expecting $2-$3k to get it fixed." Facepalm. I am getting better at bidding, but it still hurts whenever I ...

If I could have had a dollar for every time one of my customers asked if that enough, I could retire. Oh, wait....... Wim

...you hand the customer your invoice and they say: "Oh, that's all? The last tuner charged twice as much, and didn't do nearly as good a job as you." ...and then does not give you a tip.  ------------------------------ Geoff Sykes, RPT Los Angeles ...

Hello, thanks for the reply, I texted you a couple times on this piano :-D I've watched quite a few of your videos. What did you have in mind for trade labor vs training? If you see some of the videos on my google photos she is now playing but I know ...