Until I had to give it up due to arthritis, I was in the player piano
restoration and repair business for over forty years. At least six
times, after I finished a player piano and tuned it up, the customer
would say something like (and I quote one customer),
"This is awful; the player sounds just like a regular piano --
I want it to sound like a player piano!"
So I tuned them out of tune and the customers were all very happy.
I also had a contract for fourteen years with the drama department of
Syracuse University and I tuned the pianos for all the shows they put
on. One show called for a rinky-tink sounding piano, so "out of tune"
it went. It was a great success.
The bottom line is that there are people out there who like a "Frontier
Bar Room" piano sound. I tune my player every six or seven years
whether it needs it or not. <lol>
Charles Schubert
Baldwinsville, New York
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