HERE IS HOW PIANO TUNING WORKS
IN WILLIAMSON, NORTH TRAVIS,
AND BURNET COUNTY,
TEXAS

I AM NOT HORSIN' AROUND

A few years ago we moved from Tennessee to Texas.

Just like Sam Houston and Davey Crocket.

But, we waited until after Santa Ana was whipped and Texas was safe.            
          And we stopped off at a few other places along the way.

Now, the Feds are playing games with inflation statistics.....

So, I am out of retirement to add a bit to the cash flow.

I am looking for a few good pianos to tune :-)

$ 120 for a regular tuning (within about twenty miles of Liberty Hill)
* $ 160 for a double tuning- "Raising pitch" (see below) (No $120 added)
Repairs: $ 30 per hour (For major repairs I will usually set a maximum on labor cost)
$60 Examine and estimate value of piano you might want to buy
(within 20 miles of my home)

When checking other piano tuners for price, ask if they charge mileage.
I DO NOT charge mileage within 20 miles of my home in Liberty Hill.
Anything over 20 miles is charged a nominal mileage charge.

Concert tunings include my attendance at the event if I receive two free tickets.

In case of national economic trouble, I take Pesos if they are in lawful circulation.
Other "currency" accepted- Denominations of 12ga, 410, 30-06, and 357
Also, I will barter if you have something I need.

* What is "raising pitch"
or a double tuning?

Answer: That is for a neglected piano that is so far out of tune that it takes two trips over the whole piano to convince it to stay at A-440, the world standard. This is done in one long visit lasting up to four hours.

Phone:
512 673-3309
Answering- 10 AM to 6 PM

Now, what are you waiting for?
I am ready to tune your piano...... >

TROUBLE SHOOTING YOUR OWN PIANO

If your piano is acting up, it is probably only a regulation problem.
I do piano regulation, and you pay by the hour.
Regulation means taking out the sloppy motion in keys and hammers
and pedals due to wear. All pianos suffer from this, and it is usually not
serious, but it will really distract the pianist if it gets too advanced.
Seldom is sloppy action terminal.
Read that sentence again please.

Now, here is where I am a bit weird.
I help my customers trouble shoot their own piano.
If you use some basic caution, you can do this without ruining your
piano. Right, the last piano tuner told you to not even lift the lid on
your upright. This is a bit of Mother Goose. So, below find a link to
the section from my previous business from the past where I helped
people all over the world repair and tune their own piano.

Do you feel like this when your piano tuner tells
you your piano is in big trouble?
I do not use these tactics.

SO, GO HERE, and learn all about pianos,
how they work, and how to trouble shoot
your own piano. If I come to tutor you in any
of the repairs, or if you want to learn to tune
your own piano.....
Ah, there is the rub.
I will hand you a bill of course.
Ain't no such thang as a free lunch, mister.
But, I am compassionate, especially where
a wise customer adds fresh brewed coffee
and homemade pie.

I have a no compete agreement with the
gentleman who bought my online business
in the recent past. So, any tools or piano
parts must be purchased from him or
anyone else but me.
Thanks for understanding.

Ryan Estep, at age 16, completely restored his turn of the century upright piano.
He used my online repair and restoration guide and bought everything
for the restoration, except his fantastic period costume, from my online store
before I sold the rights to it.

TEMPERAMENT, STRETCH, AND A "PERFECT TUNING"
By Robert Estrin

When we talk about a piano being "in tune," we are talking about engineered imperfection. Most piano tuners will not talk about this to their customers. They fear the customer will think the tuner is trying to make up a story to cover up his poor tuning skills.

Well, Johann Sabastian Bach forced us to use temperament so that any piano could be played in any key and sound good. I want you to watch this video, and I think you will understand that you WANT me to use temperament. Also, the man talks about stretch. He did not talk about tuning to the customer's ear. You may hear the treble or the bass differently than other people. I need to know if you have felt dissatisfied with a previous tunings that sounded sharp in the bass or flat in the treble. I can simply stretch to YOUR ear, and your piano will be personally tuned.

Finally, you may have particular notes that have strange noises in them. This can be because of old age, or it can be caused by compromises the engineer made in the factory in setting up the original design of the piano. If you tell me about this before the tuning, I can often tinker with the wires and the tuning choices to diminish that added extraneous noise.

The same man warns us about Five Piano Scams:

Robert Estrin is a concert pianist. He has a YouTube site that is exceptional with suggestions to all piano players in improving technique and in learning the value and individual strengths and weaknesses of various brands of pianos.
SEE HIS VIDEOS HERE

A story about Bait and Stitch tricks by piano stores:
By Steve Van Nattan

A piano company in Arizona had used pianos in their show room for sale as well as new ones. Among the used pianos was a Winter spinet. Winter was a company that made wretched pianos long ago for several years and then went "bankrupt" as the pianos started coming apart before the warrantee period was up. The pin block separates from the frame at the top, and they had soybean plastic parts that crystallized with time.

An old Winter should be hauled to the dump, NOT sold used. The exception would be an extremely old Winter before the name was bought by the company that made the junk. Ask your piano tuner to date the piano and tell you if it is from the original company. The photo is the kind of Winter you must avoid at all costs.

The store under discussion had customers who did not quite have enough money to buy a better piano, so the store would sell them the Winter spinet cheap. They did this with a dentist, and he called me to tune it. Opening the piano, I found written in chalk on the top of the pin block, "discard," which was probably the verdict given by the store's piano tuner. The pin block was ruptured, and the center tuning pins were hopelessly loose. I showed the chalk writing to the customer, and he was furious. I had to walk away without being able to help them. He told the store what he found and accused them of cheating him. They very magnanimously told him they would exchange the piano for a good one if he paid an additional amount. He agreed, and they brought him a piano that was usable. The scam was that what he paid in the end was an extortionist total price.

Later, I found the piano in the home of a low income retired couple in the area. Same piano, same chalk markings. The store KNEW they had a piece of trash, and they did this on purpose. The people did not have the money to go through the scam trick, so I had mercy on them and did a very freaky repair. I tapped wedges into the pin holes, and the thing held tune. That was the only thing I could think of. But, their Winter must have eventually literally gone to pieces.

I suppose this trick is a variation of Bait and Switch. It is very cruel.

This is why it is very good to ask a piano tuner to have a look at any piano you plan to buy, even one in a piano store that appears to be legitimate. The investment is worth the peace of mind. If the store does not want your piano tuner to look at the piano, grab your wallet, and run out the door at once. Something is very wrong.

Does your Piano Tuner have Perfect Pitch hearing?

Answer: NO. He may be able to tell when any given note on the piano is very close to perfection, but no one has perfect pitch. Perfect pitch is gotten by using a standard. That is done with a tuning fork or a very high end tuning meter or tone generator. If your tuner sets middle C without using some standard, he is not tuning your piano.

The reason for this is that the standard in the tuning profession, and in the music world, is a perfect 440 beats per second at A. With a standard, this can be done, and anything short of this perfect standard is not professional.

Now, if you neglected your piano for many years, the piano tuner may tell you that he does not want to add all the lost tension back to the piano. This is because strings that have relaxed may break if they are stretched all the way back to perfection. He will suggest you allow him to raise is part way to A440 at the first tuning, and six months to a year later to bring it finally all the way up to A440. This is a very good idea. Broken strings can be replaced, but they go right out of tune and have to be brought up over and over.

Remember, perfection as to the music scale, is gotten by an external standard, not the human brain.

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