SANTA BARBARA CHAPTER
September Meeting:
Date: Mon. 9/8/2025
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: NEW Piano Kitchen
4185 Carpinteria Ave. Suite 3
Carpinteria, CA 93013
The Santa Barbara Chapter met on August 11th at the Piano Kitchen in Carpinteria. We opted to save our convention reports for the next meeting for attendance reasons, so in lieu of a program we engaged in a varied and lively technical discussion:
How to bid big jobs: consider how many hours it's LIKELY to take, plus cost of parts, plus padding for the unforeseen. Some people estimate using a range, while others give a solid number.
Should we charge for phone or errand time? (trip to post office, doing research, etc). We give away a lot of time/info for free. Sometimes that's an investment in avoiding a bigger issue, and sometimes that goodwill does come back, though that's hard to quantify or rely on. When advising customers: they don't always hear/absorb what we're saying, but having had the discussion still sets expectations and covers ourselves.
Shadowing movers we've hired: Good idea, or good optics? Is there a liability issue if the movers damage something? Make the roles and dynamics clear to all parties. Generally seen as a good thing to "see the job through" for the tuner/tech to be there, though not to supervise the movers. Can be a third set of "impartial" eyes if there is an issue.
Confirming appointments: show up on time, to demonstrate precision/accuracy. Text when you're on your way, to set the expectation…people often have a live sense of where all the moving parts are in their lives. Ending an appointment: play a little tune? Invite the customer/pianist to play? We all do some version/combo of this, and agree that it's good.
Hearing loss in customers: we talked about the pitfalls of hearing aids and cochlear implants, and the different ways they achieve their aims, and the challenges of tuning so that the customer's experience is good. (The treble end is often the most problematic…often has to be stretched extra sharp) Stretch test: Jim played a series of notes 3 times. The bass never changed, but the treble series was ½ step down, same as bass, and then ½ step up. None of them sound especially good, but the ½ step up sounded generally best. Demonstrates why we stretch.
Newer Steinways: Ian says tone in octaves 5 & 6 seem "thin". Kate confirmed from her recent factory tour that manufacturing has shifted to a focus on precision construction (like Yamaha and others) in an attempt for greater consistency. That may be driving that tonal change, and general opinion in the room is that "inconsistency" leads to organic variation and character (a good thing!)…which seems to now be stripped out of new Steinways.
Our next meeting will be Monday September 8th at 7pm at Jim Connolly's shop in Carpinteria, where we will hear convention reports from Kate and Luke.