I had a new piano tuner come out to me this week. She travelled quite a distance to get to me, and didn't charge me much extra for petrol. She was very nice and friendly. She did a good job, but seemed to take an awfully long time, and the piano wasn't that badly out of tune. She was in my house for 3 hours!! After she had left, I found that the right hand pedal was not working. I called her back on her mobile and she came straight back and fixed it. The next day I found that one of the notes (a low B) has got a kind of tinny quality to it - really not nice - it grates terribly on my ear, and it certainly wasn't like that before.

Do I call her and expect her to come all the way back out? [gulp]
Anyone had an experience like this before? I didn't get a receipt (stupid?).

I'd be grateful for any advice.

How did you find this tuner? Was she recommended by a friend, or did you pick a name out of the phone book?

Unfortunately, I have heard other similar tales. A good tuner is hard to find. Apparently new tuners now do a degree course, but don't do as much actual piano tuning as the old style apprentices. Hence they end up taking a long time to do the job (you do wonder how they make any money..) One of my students is very loyal to his tuner, but he tells me that she spends all day on his piano!

You could call her again - in one sense, she needs to know that she hasn't done a satisfactory job (and in the circumstances, yes I would expect her to come again at her own expense). On the other hand, you may want to cut your losses and get someone else.

Ask around you piano playing friends and acquaintances for recommendations. PM me if you are anywhere near me and I can recommend an excellent tuner.

Always get a receipt - you can claim tuning as an expense against tax if you are a teacher.

Three hours is not a long time to spend tuning an instrument. If it hadn't been tumed for a while then it would have needed a fairly long session. My tuner always says that a piano should be tuned before it sounds as if it needs it. Give her a ring and the chance to correct the twang. She may well have other pianos to tune in your area.

I agree three hours isnt that long.

My piano tuner, who I got out of the small ads in the local paper 20 years ago, comes every quarter and is here for about four hours and even though I give him a cup of tea, he is so engrossed that he never drinks it!

He is long past retiring age but keeps getting called out. I would miss him dreadfully if he did decide to call it a day. Lovely man.

Agreed that it's not excessively long. I certainly think you should inform her and politely encourage her to return to put matters right.

Piano tuners are a difficult issue! I've had five over the last 30 years, and none has taken more than 2 hours to tune my upright. One of them really didn't do a very good job though (he was recommended by my son's piano teacher) so I only had him once.

I haven't been completely satisfied with tuning since the man I had for years retired about 4 years ago, but most folk in my area recommend the man I have now, so I'm not sure where to go from here. Most of the tuners I've used have asked me to let them know if there's an odd annoying note, as then if they're in the area they will pop in to see to it. However, I don't see how I could ask them without taking time off work, which isn't worth it for one note, so when there is something slightly off I've always put up with it until the next tuning session.

If you're usually at home anyway, I'd suggest ringing your tuner and asking if she could let you know when she might be able to pop in to fix the odd note or two. I'm sure she'd rather you did that than tell others you hadn't been satisfied with her tuning.

I would definitely give her a call, as you will not be able to live with it, however, especially as you are now teaching, always get a receipt - it's tax deductable.

All good advice here. Why not phone/text and say that when she is in the area could she call again - before such and such a date so she doesn't string you along. The longer you leave it the more difficult it will be.

You don't actually say how much you were charged (I think there has been a thread on this before) but my home tuner charges £28 including travel and spend an hour and a half. He is very experienced and doesn't use any gadgets, I have always liked his tuning (plenty of testing in 3rds and 6ths as well as 4ths and 5th as he goes, not just the latter, with dim 7ths coming in as he covers the range)

I sacked my school tuner before I had even met him as he wanted £60 per piano. I got in a very good guy who started at £45 and now £50 per piano; this is the going rate round here. [Didn't want my guy to do them for reasons I wont go into] My current school tuner sets out his mid range with a meter but tests by ear as he goes and then he tunes the outer section by ear. He does nice 'wide' bass octaves which I like where as I have to ask specially at home.

At home I have had notes go out soon after a visit but I have a wrench so I can correct them myself. Twice a year is what my man likes or elkse he say the tuning pins just find where they are happiest and not where they ought to go!!!!

It would be interesting to see how long she takes if you have her again. If the piano was very flat she may have had to raise the pitch all over and then fine tune all over again; this counts as 2 tunings usually.

Thanks for the advice. I'm glad you mentioned about claiming back the tax. How easy it is to overlook these things!
I've called her back. She said she would come free of charge, but she hates driving so will get the bus ... I think it will be at least a 2 hour journey . I asked if she could arrange anything else in the area, but she didn't seem to think so.
I feel bad and awkward, but I can't stand that note ... and my piano doesn't need tuning very often.

Interesting also that you don't think 3 hours is very long. I've never had one stay that long before, but at least now I know that's not completely out of the ordinary.

I was charged £45 but I gave her £50. I got her out of the yellow pages.

Isn't this forum great?!

I've had a few piano tuners in my time...one said my piano wasn't tuneable to "concert pitch" - it was that bad, and so he would just have to tune it to itself. But then, I got another tuner the next time who spent 4 hours re-pitching it to concert pitch. Guess the 1st tuner just couldn't be bothered...

I've got a great tuner now - who comes with his guide dog. He stays several hours - he comes on bus, asks if the dog can relieve itself in my garden, then needs a plate for his sandwiches (and a cup of tea) before he even starts - but I love him I only had to describe the layout of my house while he was stood at the front door and he found my piano, and then the toilet without needing to be shown!

Mine (a George Rogers upright 1977) only takes a hour, or just over, and it was £60 last time. Seems to tune most of it in fifths. Its gone up quite a bit over the years but he says its the MPTA recommended rate. He sticks on another £3 or so if he oils the pedals etc ! He does come from Southport to the Wirral, but does some other customers in the area same day including schools.

Is it a tuner sandwich by any chance?


sorry

Mine was tuned last week; can't remember if I posted before on this, but anyway this confirms information is up-to-date ...

Cost - £50 (+ two cups of coffee and a sandwich). Time taken - just under two hours.

Tuner works for company I bought my piano from a couple of years ago.
Tortellini - - it was a cheese and pickle sandwich, but only because he was here over lunchtime.

Piano tuned twice yearly at £50. The very nice chap takes about an hour and all is well. I didn't realise it could take so long to tune an instrument.

Ours is excellent and takes about 2-3 hours, 3-4 times a year at £40 a go. Mind you, we have had a dreadful experience of another local tuner who I believe is absolutely revered in other parts of the country!

In my case, the tuner charges an extra £10-£20 (something like that) to bring the piano up to concert pitch. He says it's advisable to do so rather than just a bog-standard tuning - especially if any pupils are likely to have absolute pitch. He gives us a ring each year when the next tuning is due (12 months later he recommends) so that this standard of tuning can be maintained comparatively easily. Are any of the rest of you aware of this distinction between bog standard and concert pitch - or have I been sold a turkey so to speak?

LR

I love that term!
He probably means that he has to lift the pitch slightly to keep it at A 440 rather than just tune it to be in tune with itself even if the pitch has dropped. It may take longer which would account for the extra charge.

Yep - my piano is always tuned to itself and rests slightly below concert pitch.

Yes I used to have an ancient piano which was tuned below concert pitch, but mercifully I don't have perfect pitch. If a piano is well below concert pitch and you want it brought up to A440 it's best to have it done gradually otherwise it can cause serious problems.

bored teenager off school + out of tune high Ab on a piano + a trusty pair of pliers = even more out of tune high Ab on a piano

Its all a lerning curve!

I saw a book the other day that promoted itself as being the bible for learning how to tune your own piano, or words to that effect. So many disasters waiting to happen!

I've only just 'picked up' on this topic and have read about your problem and the replies.
It is, indeed, difficult to find a good piano tuner, especially outside London and major cities but no one, especially music teachers, should have to put up with second rate tuning and second rate service.
Anyone in real difficulty can get guidance from the Piano Tuners' Association and you are advised to have a tuner/technician who is a Member of that Association to guarantee a fully professional tuning/service by a qualified technician.
My own tuner/technician comes whenever I call him although he is extremely busy up and down the country often doing concert tunings. I may have to wait a week or so for a routine tuning but if I had an emergency he would make the effort to come almost immediately. And in the rare event of something going wrong a day or two after a visit he would be back without extra charge to me to put the matter right.
I have two pianos and my tuner completes routine tuning of them both in no longer than two hours.

I'm extremely fortunate. My tuner came with the piano about 20 years ago and it is a very successful relationship. He stays for most of the morning to do both my pianos then spends the rest of the day in the village tuning other pianos/families he has picked up by personal recommendation since.

Ask around, especially if you have a good specialist piano shop in your area, or a good piano teacher. A good tuner is worth hanging on to when you find one.

Sorry to pick up on an old thread, but:

We currently pay £40 for piano tuning up here in the north east of England, and the job usually takes around two hours or a little longer. Out tuner comes from Sunderland, which is about 45 minutes away, but he doesn't charge for travel. Overall we are very happy with his work, although we know of two others in the village who have been less impressed. However, having played their pianos I suspect it may be more to do with the instrument than the tuner.

Your first tuner was not necessarily wrong about tuning to concert pitch. If a piano has not been tuned for a long time (and is therefore well below concert pitch) there is a very real risk that tightening the tuning pins by the required amount will result in broken strings; especially as the metal strings tend to work harden at their ends, and so become brittle. The usual procedure in this situation is to tune the piano to itself - usually a tone or a semitone below pitch, and to gradually tune the instrument closer to concert pitch over a period of a year or two.

Our own piano is still a semitone below pitch for this reason, having not been played for many years by it’s previous Owner; but I don't think it matters unless you want to play it along with other instruments. The piano at church is also a good semitone below pitch, but it is never played with the organ (which is always kept well tuned) so it does not create a problem.

You have also reminded me that when I was at school, all of the piano tuners who came to tune the school pianos were blind. I was always fascinated by how they could manage to do a quite complex job without being able to see, but as our teachers explained, blind people tend to have much better developed hearing than sighted people do.

SB

My piano is about a quarter tone under which is just about do-able for accompanying. I daren't have it tuned up any higher because I don't want to risk strings breaking - I love it too much

My 90-year old Rogers was more than a semitone under, but the new tuner (5 months ago) said it would be fine to bring it up to concert pitch, which he did. However, since then, I have noticed that it goes out of tune (with itself) much more quickly now than it did before.

Mole

It will take a while to settle into it's new pitch - you will need to have it tuned up more than once for that to happen

........ which could be another reason why some piano tuners like to do it in stages.

From what I have been told, a semitone is about the limit for a single tuning; anything more and it must be done in stages. Added to which, every time a piano is tuned, the wires are stretched slightly, and so become thinner, and more likely to break. This may not be a problem for a young-ish piano in good condition, but an older piano may need gentler treatment.