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THE
REVIEW
VOL. LXXIX. No. 14 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. Oct. 4, 1924
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
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Solving the Reproducer Service Problem
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H E value of any piece of mechanism, musical or otherwise, depends primarily upon its operating
efficiency, and that efficiency is reduced in exact proportion to the periods during' which, for one reason
or another, it is inoperative and, therefore, useless.
Particularly in the case of the reproducing piano is constant operation most vital in giving the
purchaser full value for the substantial amount of money he has invested in this improved instrument, and in
keeping him satisfied, enthusiastic and friendly. In the work of exploitation there is nothing more important
than building up a reputation of stability for the instrument, backed by a service that insures quick attention
when various adjustments become necessary.
Recognition of this fact has come to the manufacturers and dealers in reproducing pianos in no un-
certain manner during the past year or so, with the result that there is being built up through local organiza-
tions of tuners and repairmen, as well as individual members of the craft, a strong service structure designed
to give the increasing number of reproducing piano owners prompt and efficient local service.
It was not so very long ago that the reproducing piano suffered considerably from the fact that many
dealers refused to recognize their responsibility in the matter of service, hesitated to encourage local inde-
pendent repair men to make an intensive study of the instruments through fear of competitive effort, and
relied almost entirely upon the service facilities of the manufacturer for meeting adjustment and repair prob-
lems. The result was, as has been proved, that many scores of reproducing piano sales were either killed
entirely or postponed because the prospect came in contact with the owner of such an instrument who
complained of its remaining idle for several weeks at a time awaiting the factory man to arrive to make a
minor adjustment.
Efforts of manufacturers to have dealers take the initiative in training repairmen in reproducing piano
service met with little success except in isolated cases, and the problem was finally solved by the establishment
of schools in various cities of the country where the latter could spend several weeks with factory experts and
learn the mysteries of the reproducing instrument from the ground up. That these schools have been appre-
ciated by the craftsmen is indicated by their registration figures, in the majority of cities as many as three
dozen men giving up their time for several weeks to perfect themselves in the work.
The conduct of service schools was at the outset confined to one or two concerns. Now it has developed
to a point where the majority of manufacturers of reproducing instruments and actions are offering facilities to
tuners and repairmen to secure without tuition costs an intimate knowledge of the products they offer. The
competition bugaboo has been squelched in the appreciation of the fact that the broader the knowledge of the
repairman the better for the reproducing piano as a whole.
Service may appear to some dealers to be something of a foreign matter still, they considering their
responsibilities to end when the reproducing piano has been placed in the home. On the contrary, service is in
many respects one of the most important factors in reproducing piano merchandising, for despite the develop-
ment of the instrument to a point where it is practically foolproof there is no mechanism of such a compli-
cated nature that does not require adjustments at times, even though they be minor.
The idea back of the service schools for independent repairmen is to build up a countrywide chain of
trained workers who will be quickly available for the requirements of the reproducing piano owner anywhere
and at any time. Such service will be naturally quite in contrast to that rendered by a small factory staff
located at a distance from the source of the trouble, and of necessity bound by a schedule that is likely to hold
up a distant service job for several weeks at least. The individual whose reproducing piano is silent for sev-
eral weeks while waiting for the attention of the factory service man, is not likely to be an enthusiastic booster
for that particular instrument.