Broadwood tuning

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

Diane-
I think you have done a good job of intuiting and describing a customer we probably don't want to have.
For a good life our work needs to be win-win-win for the customer, the piano and the technician.
When that can't be the case, it's best to omit ourselves from the situation pronto, with grace and a smile.
Some houses are just full of trouble, and we can't fix them.
Ed Sutton


-----Original Message-----
>From: Diane Hofstetter <dianepianotuner at msn.com>
>Sent: Oct 1, 2006 3:49 AM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: RE: Broadwood tuning
>
>Les,
>
>In a 13,000 sq.ft. house you might run into everything--or nothing--that's 
>BIG!
>
>Seriously though, you might run into everything--or nothing with the 
>Broadwood.  Did she tell you why she didn't have "the last guy" back?  
>Everything you say suggests that she will not be an easy customer to deal 
>with. The local company screwed it up--she needed to bring in a "Broadwood 
>expert"?   Are you the next "local guy" who will be responsible for all her 
>woes in regard to her paino?
>
>Nor does it sound like an easy piano, for that matter.  Any piano that has 
>"been rebuilt" and is not being tuned by the guy who rebuilt it, is a red 
>flag for me.  A piano that "has been rebuilt twice" is even more suspect.
>
>Some of the worst customers I ever worked for had "beautiful antique pianos" 
>in expensive homes.  After our earthquake, one lady went after her insurance 
>company for the century-old soundboard cracks in her rosewood Knabe from the 
>early 1800's.
>
>Another had us in to appraise her antique piano for re-refinishing.  The 
>"other guy" did such a "dreadful job".  We looked it over pretty carefully, 
>all the while listening to her tale of woe about his refinishing and how she 
>was going to sue him, when all of a sudden I noticed a red piece of felt 
>glued on top of one of the plate struts near where the lid prop went down.  
>I pulled it off and --- -lo and behold!--- a nice large crack in the strut!  
>Had we bid on the refinishing job and moved it to our shop, guess who would 
>have been sued for that?!
>
>So--if it were me, I would tread very carefully.
>Diane
>
>
>Diane Hofstetter
>
>
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: "Leslie Bartlett" <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net>
>Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
>To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
>Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 11:30:25 -0500
>
>A lady called today saying she has an 1860's Broadwood which she wants
>tuned. Says the last guy who tuned it did so to "military pitch".....
>What's that pray, tell?    If I do this thing, would tuning it at A=430 be a
>safe thing to do?  I don't know enough about these old things to even
>venture a safe guess. She said it was rebuilt twice, as the first "local
>piano company" screwed it up and she had to get a "Broadwood expert" to redo
>the whole thing. About $20K with no casework.  It is kept presently in a
>house which is only sporadically air conditioned.  It isn't her "regular
>home" of course.  They can't afford to keep it cooled since it is a "second
>home" long time in the family............  13,000 square feet.    So, I
>dread to think what I might run into.
>
>Info would be appreciated, and info on tuning a harmonium as well.
>Thanks
>les bartlett
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