Piano tuning, can it be done by an amateur?

sgosden

Sassafras said:

sgosden said:

((Effort + time) / cost ) x likelyhood of me fluffing it up = get a man in

I'm going to be really disappointed if the bloke isn't a jazzy old guy with sunglasses and a black hat on

If you're expecting Ray Charles, forget it.

exactly who I was hoping for*, then me and all the street can go outside and twist again, like we did last summer!

*I am very aware of the impossibility of this,

PolarityMan

If I was tuning a piano I'd drop it down to Ab so it djents more.

Phil_aka_Pip

sgosden said:

what sort of cost should I be expecting?

I last paid my bloke £45

Doing it yourself - if you can stand the hassle of undoing all your errors ... what @BahHumbug said about the cycle of 5ths plus the "5th"s are equally tempered so have to be slightly flat - listen for a beat frequency of about 4Hz and then you'll be about right.

Or you could use a good quality electronic tuner like the Yamaha job. My piano tuner chap doesn't like electronic tuners but I got him to humour me and allow it to be sat on the piano while he tuned it. He was quite impressed, as the tuner agreed with him! I don't think all electronic tuners are good enough to do that with though.

hobbio

sgosden said:

Sassafras said:

sgosden said:

((Effort + time) / cost ) x likelyhood of me fluffing it up = get a man in

I'm going to be really disappointed if the bloke isn't a jazzy old guy with sunglasses and a black hat on

If you're expecting Ray Charles, forget it.

exactly who I was hoping for*, then me and all the street can go outside and twist again, like we did last summer!

*I am very aware of the impossibility of this,

You sure you weren't hoping for Chubby Checker?

axisus

I remember as a kid my mum would get piano tuners in for her baby grand. They were often blind, apparently they were utilising their extra hearing ability. My mum always liked tô hear them sit and play some music as a test. The last one my mum had in just plugged a little box in and did it via that, so not a job requiring talent any more!

EricTheWeary

Just googling blind piano tuners. They have an Association so I guess there are a few and it's on a list of what are described as 'blind trades' - jobs that blind people have been encouraged to do rather than more mainstream occupations, so there is an element of stigma to it as well as old fashioned, low grade work.

Dominic

I would always recommend a blind piano tuner ( we used to have one )

The deaf ones aren't as good !

english_bob

sgosden said:

Sassafras said:

sgosden said:

((Effort + time) / cost ) x likelyhood of me fluffing it up = get a man in

I'm going to be really disappointed if the bloke isn't a jazzy old guy with sunglasses and a black hat on

If you're expecting Ray Charles, forget it.

exactly who I was hoping for

I was thinking of this guy:

Highly recommended for lending "proper actor gravitas" to ridonkulous chop-socky-meets-East-End-Gangster beat 'em up films.

ArchtopDave

I usually pay £60 for tuning.

Some of the pegs were getting worn, so I "bit the bullet' a couple of years ago, and got the piano (Baby Grand) restrung and reconditioned. Cost a good wad. If you've ever paid for something like this, you'll never worry about the cost of a packet of guitar strings ever again.

WezV

My Granddad's brother was a blind piano tuner, it was his only career option at Blind school.   My Granddad used to drive him around and do all the repairs in his van.   And that is why i grew up loving the smell of hide glue

OilCityPickups

My great uncle was a blind piano tuner!

10thumbs

I've sometimes wondered if you can do this with a chromatic guitar tuner ?

Teetonetal

Had a bizarre Piano based conversation with my wife last night

wife: Do we need to get a piano

me: what? why?

wife: well I always had one growing up, I remember Mum always getting some blind guy to come and tune it

me: can you play the piano then? Do you want to start again?

wife: no, generally it just sat there. I had a couple of lessons, I hated it.

me: er. 

wife: but you can play?

me: er not really - I know how to play and had some lessons at uni, but I don't enjoy it.

wife: but it would be nice for the kids

me: but you hated it and I don't liek itt and you need it to be tuned etc

wife: why are you always so negative? I'd like to have one when we buy a house..

markslade07

EricTheWeary said:

When I was a kid we used to have our piano tuned regularly by a blind chap. No one ever really played the bloody thing, I think it was more my mother's idea of a charitable act to keep him in employment. Must be some still out there.

Only just catching up on this, but so did we, @erictheweary. I think you're in the Midlands and back then I lived in Walsall. Think the old blind guy was from Bloxwich, but I may be making that bit up.

Edit. Unless it's a prerequisite of being a piano tuner, and it's no coincidence at all!

EricTheWeary

markslade07 said:

EricTheWeary said:

When I was a kid we used to have our piano tuned regularly by a blind chap. No one ever really played the bloody thing, I think it was more my mother's idea of a charitable act to keep him in employment. Must be some still out there.

Only just catching up on this, but so did we, @erictheweary. I think you're in the Midlands and back then I lived in Walsall. Think the old blind guy was from Bloxwich, but I may be making that bit up

I'll have to ask my mother what she can remember about him, at 88 her memory is keener than mine ( although as she has been going blind for the last few years so it may not be the easiest topic to broach). But obviously it was quite a common thing. 

AliGorie

WezV said:

My Granddad's brother was a blind piano tuner, it was his only career option at Blind school.   My Granddad used to drive him around and do all the repairs in his van.   And that is why i grew up loving the smell of hide glue

nice one Wez, I know what ya mean - re hide glue
My mother (who had a wonderful natural 'ear') taught herself to tune pianos armed with a tuning fork and a tuning key.

Emp_Fab

http://www.tunelab-world.com/

DLM

Teetonetal said:

Had a bizarre Piano based conversation with my wife last night

wife: Do we need to get a piano

me: what? why?

wife: well I always had one growing up, I remember Mum always getting some blind guy to come and tune it

me: can you play the piano then? Do you want to start again?

wife: no, generally it just sat there. I had a couple of lessons, I hated it.

me: er. 

wife: but you can play?

me: er not really - I know how to play and had some lessons at uni, but I don't enjoy it.

wife: but it would be nice for the kids

me: but you hated it and I don't liek itt and you need it to be tuned etc

wife: why are you always so negative? I'd like to have one when we buy a house..

@Teetonetal Ha! Reminds me of the bookcases with classics people buy to give the impression that they are well-read.... Except the books never show any sign of wear....

We got our Joanna for nowt from a church clearing out its storage facility. It's a cheap, mass-produced East German one, with a dampener for making it quieter for playing in shitty GDR prefabs. The lever for activating the dampener has always reminded me of the choke on a Trabant! Accordingly, the thing is never in tune, even after we've had a man in. But @DLM's_Girl still prefers it over an electric, which reminds me of Scott Henderson's use of the traditional Strat bridge over more modern alternatives. He says he needs good tone more than to be in tune.

bingefeller

A blind piano tuner is such an archetype.  

bingefeller

DLM said:

Teetonetal said:

Had a bizarre Piano based conversation with my wife last night

wife: Do we need to get a piano

me: what? why?

wife: well I always had one growing up, I remember Mum always getting some blind guy to come and tune it

me: can you play the piano then? Do you want to start again?

wife: no, generally it just sat there. I had a couple of lessons, I hated it.

me: er. 

wife: but you can play?

me: er not really - I know how to play and had some lessons at uni, but I don't enjoy it.

wife: but it would be nice for the kids

me: but you hated it and I don't liek itt and you need it to be tuned etc

wife: why are you always so negative? I'd like to have one when we buy a house..

@Teetonetal Ha! Reminds me of the bookcases with classics people buy to give the impression that they are well-read.... Except the books never show any sign of wear....

We got our Joanna for nowt from a church clearing out its storage facility. It's a cheap, mass-produced East German one, with a dampener for making it quieter for playing in shitty GDR prefabs. The lever for activating the dampener has always reminded me of the choke on a Trabant! Accordingly, the thing is never in tune, even after we've had a man in. But @DLM's_Girl still prefers it over an electric, which reminds me of Scott Henderson's use of the traditional Strat bridge over more modern alternatives. He says he needs good tone more than to be in tune.

Scott uses a modified bridge with wider holders drilled out for the strings to pass through easier.