Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, NOVEMBER, 1940
on why two pianos of same size sell at
different prices — swell cooperation
towards selling better pianos at higher
prices.
D
EALERS report that old large
grands are a "drug on the
market" as trade-ins, values
now running from $25 to $50
for the old timers. Yet, the retail prices
of these second-handers have not
dropped much. One dealer says that
the proper trade-in value on an instru-
ment that later on sells for $100 should
be not over $35, due to the cost of doll-
ing it up which never is less than $15.
Unusual retail ad the other day shows
a console for $295 and also a grand at
$295, both i l l u s t r a t e d . This either
strips the glamor for grand ownership,
or proof that the console is just as good
as a grand and one takes his choice.
A
MUSING incident —that of a
piano man telling a radio man
{ to have his piano tuned twice
' a year — proper advice, of
course, altho ye ed prefers his piano
tuned 4 times annually. Joke is that
the radio man asked the piano boy
about the set of tubes in his set (indus-
try advocates new tubes every year)
and the piano man said: "My tubes are
swell. I have had them for 6 years and
they still work great in a set I got 9
years ago, which has a better tone than
the sets now being made." In other
words, what is sauce for the goose is
spinach for the gander; that tone is a
matter of individual preference; that no
verbal description can convey tone;
that few people know anything about
tone, in spite of the fact that "tone"
sells more pianos (and larger radio)
than any other sales closing factor.
And withal, "tone" will always be the
best selling force for pianos for the
reason that everyone is a self-elected
expert who KNOWS tone.
P
IANO tuning presents an odd
problem, too, for if every piano
were tuned just once a year—
not twice as urged—it would
mean 5,000,000 piano tunings, 450,000
tunings a month or 18,000 a day. Elimi-
nating factory tuners from aiding in
the home work; and deducting the
tuners engaged in concert, theatre,
radio and other professional work, it
would seem that the 3,000 tuners left
would be as busy as the one-arm
paper hanger with urticaria. Now
double that, on the 2 tunings a year
basis—10,000,000 of 'em — it sounds
like a stock broker's prospectus on the
market possibilities of a company's
stock issue. No one knows what the
volume is today of the tuning business,
either in tunings or dollars, but our
guess on public tunings would be
60,000 a month or 700,000 annually,
with $2 average, or $1,400,000, an
average yearly income now per tuner
of $460. Note that this is tunings, and
not for shining the pedals, filling and
staining cracks, polishing, etc., or
dough secured from gag stuff via the
bite.
I
OOKS as if there is much less
competition in tuning than any
•
other branch of pianos, and
•
dealers might concentrate on
the promotion of tuning sales, not so
much for the profits, as for the feeder
value of other sales. Run small ads on
tuning; make the ad worth 50c to apply
on the tuning, if clipped from the paper;
have each tuner fill out a "draft" card,
with data on piano, 2 or 3 friends,
children, etc., perhaps 18 questions.
Give the tuner 10c for each card; give
the tuners a little talk now and then on
selling and try to develop just a dash
of the seller's delight for the kill. Make
a deal with the ear specialist in town to
collaborate with you on a booklet about
the ear and hearing dangers of listen-
ing to jumbled up offkey tunes and
pitch, especially with youngsters, etc.,
etc. Write it almost ethically, so teach-
ers and schools would distribute it to
pupils. Actually, the ear hears nothing;
it conveys air wave impulses to the