Have been reading all of the comments on how to tune player piano
with a combination of humor and astonishment.  My sad feeling is
that tuning is a dying trade.  Apparently too many are being trained
"by guess and by God."

I've been in the trade since 1952, when I was trained by my father 
who maintained pianos for the Corpus Christi Symphony, the Del Mar
School of music and many of the leading musicians of the area.  He
was trained in several factories around the turn of the century.
Apparently there is little opportunity for training of this caliber
any more, not only in tuning, but also repair and regulation.

It is sad to find the pliers mechanics work that I see daily: wood
screws into a key as a way to overcome a sticky flange, tuning pins
driven to the coil, replacement stings of the wrong size and sloppy
coils, etc., etc., etc!  I guess that electronic pianos will solve
the problems of service.  I only hope and pray that a few purists
hang around to service those who recognize the difference.

Sadly yours, Dave Bovell