Difference Between Piano Tuner and Piano Technician?

[fleetfingers]

Hi,

Is there a difference between the two, or are they one and the same? Just had my piano tuned and he could not fix the loud action (which I am quite certain wasn't there before). He blamed it on my piano which was made with a cheap action as compared to other, better brands and insisted there is nothing that can be done. Should I contact a "technician" or trust the tuner?

[keys60]

Contact the technician. A tuner knows how to tune. A technician knows how to tune, regulate (adjust the action back to specs or to a customers preference), voice, repair, possibly rebuild and restore.  Some tuners are better than others, some techs are better than others.

I'm a relatively new technician that pretty much tunes, regulates and repairs. And if there is something I couldn't handle on my own, I would refer the customer to one of my more experienced technician friends, possibly at the risk of losing said customer.

[jimbo320]

Like Keys said. There is a big difference between the two. Look at it this way. You know how to tune up your car and you do. So by all purposes you can be considered a tuner of a car. But for further adjustments to keep the car running as good as possible, you take it to a technician....

[fleetfingers]

Thanks for the answers!

I was asking the tuner a lot of questions about the extraneous noise I was hearing from the keys, trying to get at what the problem could be - and I had the feeling he didn't have a clue but didn't want to admit it. Maybe he was afraid to lose my business if I switched to someone who tunes and repairs. Anyway, he did a great job on the tuning and was pleasant and nice to work with. I will contact a technician to take a look at the action, though. Thanks again for the advice.

And if there is something I couldn't handle on my own, I would refer the customer to one of my more experienced technician friends, possibly at the risk of losing said customer.

.

If I were your customer, you would not lose my business. It is rare to find someone who genuinely cares about getting you what you need/want, enough to refer you to someone else.

[toner22]

yep. It depedns on what type of tech.

Now a tuner compared to a veteran tech. No contest. Nothing beats years of hands on experience. Experience can troubleshoot in and out of the box. Machine can't.

Now a tuner compared to a tech that relies solely on his machines. Id say let the machine go at it, they only bill you once.

[silverwoodpianos]

Tuning can be a done as a specific task only. There are tuners that just perform tuning, and sometimes small adjustments only. We have a couple of them around Vancouver that tune only. They are working with a technician who follows up if repairs are required.

[rysowers]

I believe in and promote "full piano service". When people call us to ask about tuning, we translate this to mean "I want my piano to be more fun to play". Sometimes tuning is the main issue, many other times it is only part of the equation. With full service, we try to service the whole piano and this almost always includes some voicing of the hammers.

Full service technicians usually charge more, but the value is greater.

I am suspicious that your technician didn't have a good strategy for fixing your pianos problems. Even some high-end expensive brands can have excessive action noise.

[fleetfingers]

What does voicing of the hammers mean? What does that service entail?

[rysowers]

Here's a good description from ptg.org

https://www.ptg.org/resources-pianoOwners-voicing.php

[silverwoodpianos]

What does voicing of the hammers mean? What does that service entail?

Hey fleetfingers,
I will start another thread about voicing rather then interfere with the topic of this thread.

[tina_p]

I believe in and promote "full piano service". When people call us to ask about tuning, we translate this to mean "I want my piano to be more fun to play". Sometimes tuning is the main issue, many other times it is only part of the equation. With full service, we try to service the whole piano and this almost always includes some voicing of the hammers.

Full service technicians usually charge more, but the value is greater.

I am suspicious that your technician didn't have a good strategy for fixing your pianos problems. Even some high-end expensive brands can have excessive action noise.

I agree with rysowers.   If you want to learn how to do it, go to a proper piano technicians school.   Otherwise, hire somebody who is certified by the Piano Technician's Guild.   I would recommend my piano tech as well from https://www.total-piano-care.com