Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum So, what did you do today?

Had my first sharp piano of the year. A Kimball console in a damp church, and it one hammer butt flange that the pin was walking out of.

I usually don't see sharp pianos this early, but the lack of winter speeded things up.

Worked on my taxes. Business was up 25% from last year!

Well, I lucked out today for sure!! I was tuning a Yamaha G3 grand that I've tuned every 6 months for years. I lifted up the lid like I always do with this piano and just happened to notice something laying on the sound board. Upon a closer look, I see a hinge PIN. I quickly but, slowly, let down the lid and put the pin back into the back hinge again.... I'm lucky it didn't go flying down to the ground. After the lid was down, I lifted up on it to see how loose it was. It came right up.... Lucky me!!!

Whew! Close one! I have gotten into the habit of "waggling" (there's that word again) the lid after lifting it a couple of inches, before lifting it up all the way.

I always check the hinge pins on grand lids before lifting the lid. I should probably check on uprights, too...as I've had some larger older upright lids nearly fall to the floor behind the piano.

I forgot! didn't even dawn on me. I tuned the piano so much, I just lifted it up.... Almost had an oops moment! Or, they did. What idiot would take it out and lay it on the sound board anyway.

Wow, Jerry, you were indeed lucky. I haven't been consistent in checking for hinge pins......note to self...

Yesterday I put a close friend together with a nice little 5'8" 1936 Mathushek grand.

Today, being Thursday, was Shout House day. Three broken strings on one piano, zero on the other.

Loose lids? One of the teachers at the convention told a tale of entering house, heading upstairs to tune the grand, lifting the lid....and having it slide off the piano and through the plate glass window to the ground far below. 'Guess we're done here, huh?' 'Yes' says the owner.

Waggle (there's that word) indeed. With new customers; I try to remember to physically check the hinge pins. Partly to make sure they ARE hinge pins, and not toothpicks or hacked off nails. But, yes, a simple waggle, as the lid comes clear of the retaining pin is a simple habit to build.

My day? Kawai GS-50 (84) Nice nice piano. And...a very rare no-show for a church tuning. Wow. And right before Easter...the choir director will be unhappy (didn't answer phone, or I'd have waited).

I always touch the hinge pins before I open the lid. A few times the customer has looked at me funny and said "The piano opens on this side".

I'm supposed to be cleaning the house today for Passover dinner. Instead, I'm online goofing off.

You can have the hinge pin in place, but stripped screws.

tuning for radiohead

Interesting gig...glad I had my pda/tuner. Couldn't hear doodly.

Very cool, Dave!

Today was once again Shout House day. Four broken strings, one damper that had jumped out of its sticker, and a little hammer height adjustment.

About a week ago I finally started running an ad here on PW; Frank and I had only talked about it for three years...

I can only assume it was from the ad, but I got a call from someone in Denver, asking for a quote for inspecting a prospective buy in Escondido(~35 miles away from me). He had a little sticker shock from my quote(same as a tuning), I then explained why so much. I think he's going to call around and shop. C'est la vie...

I strung the middle section of a grand piano and then went to tune a grand spinet piano. Two years ago, I told the customer the piano was junk, and asked him to replace it. Well, it didn't get any better in two years. I again asked the customer to replace it - it's now making the kid's practice difficult - and I don't want to tune it anymore!

An opera performance at the theater for a San Francisco dance company, followed by servicing several other pianos in the studios at the venue.

I hate these pianos. They key weighting is all off, and when you combine that with the wobbly keys from worn bushings that they usually have, they never play the way a piano should.

And saying that you tuned one is a lie, because that's an impossibility.

Good ammunition for a catapult .

This wasn't Orpheus in the Underworld by any chance, was it? If so, the assistant director and one of the lead dancers are close friends of mine.

No, it is a new opera.

More performances this weekend.

Aha. I just checked, and the Orpheus production is being put on by the SFCM.

As a recommendation, you should see Moby Dick this fall when it comes to the SFO. I was in it down here in Sandy Eggo this season, and a bunch of us are going to road trip to SF so we can see all of what we did. I say it's the most phenomenal thing to ever happen on a stage in the US at least.

Today I delivered a sweet little 1936 Mathushek 5'8" to a friend's house. They had been in the market, and I found this one on Craigslist for $1,600. It needs a little work, and quite a few of the key tops have fallen off(the previous owner saved them all, TG), but it's clean and will function quite well as an instrument.

Tuned a 10-year-old Bösendorfer 214 in rosewood for a Julliard graduate. She is married to the grandson of four friends of mine, one deceased before she ever knew him. I touched up the voicing on it, with the hope that maybe she will get to playing again.