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THE
DECEMBER 23, 1922
MUSIC TRADE
11
REVIEW
OuTTECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM BRAID WHITE
facturers would slight the quality of their case
work, of their ivories, or even of their adver-
tising; but the tone should always be good and
An Interesting End-of-the-year Discourse on durable, even in pianos of the so-called medium
Live Topics by a Western Tuner
grades. The thing can be done. Tuners could
"Dear Mr. White:—I often wonder why and should be trained to bring out smooth,
tuners do not more often accept your invita- even and rich tone when the construction and
tions to send in their communications on mat- manufacturing process is completed, as well as
ters of mutual interest. What other tuners and to maintain that tone after the instrument is
technical men have written has often helped me sold. I should say that from thirty-five to fifty
greatly, in getting the confidence of my cus- years represent not too long a time during
tomers in cases where their pianos have needed which to expect a fine tone to be maintained
in a well-made medium grade piano.
more than mere tuning.
"Several years ago I was corresponding with
"But I started in to write to you about
something more definite. So many new pianos a well-known manufacturing house. They had
are slighted by their manufacturers and by the told me that often more harm than good is
dealers who sell them that it is almost amazing. done by inexperienced tone regulators. I an-
Many of them could be materially improved swered that they ought to train men themselves,
by fine action regulating and tone regulating to which they replied that manufacturers could
after they have been sold to the purchasers. not afford to part with skilled efficient work-
How many piano owners ever learn this? Inde- men after time and money had been expended
pendent tuners alone can be depended upon in training them. This, of. course, is the selfish
to impart their knowledge to their patrons. view and the public is the loser. So, too, are
What would a dealer say to his employed tuner the many children whose musical education
who should tell a customer that a certain piano suffers in consequence of these conditions.
"I look back twenty-five years, when already
was not in proper regulation at the time it was
I
had been a dealer for fifteen years, and I
sold? The truth of the matter is that very
remember
what poor service the tuners used
few pianos are finely regulated as to action and
to
give
me
then; and I believe that the services
tone when they leave the factories. This is a
rendered
to-day
are not much better.
crying shame upon the piano industry.
"Why
do
not
the
employed tuners wake up
"What is the secret of Henry Ford's success?
It is that he puts out a car with a good engine to the opportunities presented to them, instead
which will take a person where he wants to of being content to play second fiddle to the
go, at a reasonable price. Now, pianos are salesmen? It takes years to learn to be a first-
primarily intended to give forth a good, pleasing class tuner, repairman and tone regulator. I
tone, but xio we not find, in practice, that tone have a letter from one of the oldest piano
is about the last thing thought of, or, at least, manufacturers in this country in which he
the first thing slighted, by both manufacturer says that it takes from three to ten years to
and dealer? Some months ago I had a very become thoroughly trained in our profession.
interesting letter from a very prominent con- Yet I have known a hash-slinger quit his job
cern which at one time made, among others, a and in a few months become a fine salesman,
very fine piano indeed. In this letter was one although he knew practically nothing about
sentence which runs as follows: 'Our X and Y pianos. A stove and thrashing machine sales-
pianos are much improved; in fact, are about man went to work for me once. On his second
as close to the Z in tone as we care to make day by nine o'clock he had sold his first piano,
and he continued to sell at about the same gait
them.'
for several months. . . .
"This significant and truthful remark might
Some Afterthoughts
come as well from many other piano manufac-
"The foregoing .remarks had been pigeon-
turers. I should say not a word if the manu-
holed for some time when I read your in-
teresting article in the December 2 issue. So I
HARLEM PIANO & ORGAN KEY CO.
shall add these further thoughts and submit
KEY REPAIRING AND NEW WORK
the whole thing to you.
Ivorine. Celluloid and Composition Key*
Celluloid
$ 7.00 per s e t
"Several things ought to be, at least, at-
Ivorine
.
.
.
8.00 •• "
Composition
- -
10.00 •• ••
tempted. One is to prevail on the manufac-
Send all work parcels post. Give us trial order.
turers to pay more attention to good tone. I
121-123 East 126th Street
N e w York. N. Y.
sometimes wish I were in contact with manu-
facturers, for correspondence does not seem to
to Ref inlshers
get one anywhere on this subject.
Repair Men
"A second thing is to get the public to look
Dealers
more to the tuners and technical men to help
Valuable book, "How to Repair Damage to them in making selection of pianos. The dif-
Varnished Surfaces." Tells how damages and ferences in various makes could fill a big book.
worn surfaces, in any finish, can easily
and quickly be made NEW. Gives
short cuts to profits. Every refinisher,
Here are
repair man and dealer should have it.
Sent postpaid, no cost, no obligation.
Send your name and address for a
copy to-day—a card will do.
Special attention IIVMI to tb» needs of tho tuner and the dealer
TONE, PIANO MAKERS AND PUBLIC
FREE
"Again, let tuners be more open and frank
with patrons and not think it necessary to
overestimate the musical value of the pianos
owned by the latter on which they have to
operate. I find this to be a very common fault
on the part of tuners. For many years, when-
ever I have been called on to examine pianos
I have pointed out frankly their faults, told
the truth about what should be done to make
them right and then have left it to the owners
to decide how thorough a job should be made
of them. The booklet "Care of the Piano,"
which the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce is distributing, ought, I think, to be en-
larged, and the subject of tone better elucidated.
If some people thus find out that their pianos
are not what they had expected them to be
they can take steps to have them brought up
to snuff or else can trade them in for better
ones. Tuners would be rendering a much
greater service by exposing deficiencies when
they meet them, than by crawfishing as they
mostly have done during the past ten years.
Your remark that 'services not well rendered
are services which damage the industry in
which they are rendered' is very applicable
to piano manufacturing and to the tuning pro-
fession. Respectfully, E. U. Will, Portland,
Ore."
Trade Faults and Public Apathy
I quote Brother Will in full because he says
so many good things which ought to be made
public, along with the things which are not so
good because they are not so practical. There
is a good deal of discontent among the tuners
just now, if one can judge by what one hears,
yet most of it is due to causes which are be-
yond the power of any individual or group of
individuals to remedy. The basic trouble with
the piano tuner is the state of the piano busi-
ness. The basic trouble with the piano business
is the ignorance of the public concerning music,
musical instruments, tone and everything else
which pertains to goodness or badness in pianos.
When there is no discrimination, no knowledge,
no interest, you will have what we see on all
sides: a few fine pianos to fill the limited de-
mand from the small body of real musicians
and a mass of commercial instruments with
not a penny's worth of difference between them
to fill the demand for a music box from the
uneducated mass. How, in these circumstances,
can one expect any special solicitude about a
feature concerning which there is no public
excitement? Brother Will and the rest of us
who are specialists may deplore all we want
to; but why should the manufacturer of com-
mercial instruments worry, especially over those
matters concerning which only specialists ever
do worry? That is the practical question, and
the answer to it is inevitable. Of course, that
TUNERS
BASS STRINGS
M. L. CAMPBELL CO.
2328 Penn St.
Kansas City, Mo.
FAUST SCHOOL
OF TUNING
Standard of America
Alumni of 2000
Piano Toning, Pipe and Reed Organ
and Player Piano. Year Book Free.
27-29 Gainsboro Street
BOSTON, MASS.
OTTO R. TREFZ,
Jr.
Philadelphia. Pa.
31J0 Falrmount Avenue
The TUNER'S FRIEND
(Continued on page 12)
with upwards at
tooo
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