Don Gilmore has been working on this idea for a looooong time! It looks like he is getting closer to getting it into production. Replicates any tuning that is saved (Grand Obsession??) by gently heating each wire to lower pitch to the saved value.

https://forum.pianoworld.com/u...opics/3354135/1.html

Very interesting!

The inventor says (in his YouTube video) that after they go into mass production the system would cost $900 (not sure about installation, it looks labor intensive to install and may even need some calibration right after installation). Assuming the whole thing works and can be had for under $2000 (including installation & calibration), then yeah, I think I want it. That’s like 6~8 tunings, the thing will pay for itself in four years and I get good tunings and temperaments of choice year round. Now what if something breaks, maybe a sensor or a heating element goes kaput … not sure how reliable the product will be and how that translates into maintenance costs.

quote:

Now what if something breaks

What if something breaks after the machine has put all the regular piano tuners out of business?

Ok, maybe I'll go read the article now watch the video now...

I'm not exactly sure how it works from the tuner's perspective, but it sounds first the piano is tuned - then saved by the system.

Then every ???? years when the pitch drops below any of the saved notes, a tech comes back and pulls up the pitch way over 440. He mentions 30 cents?!? Then the system can heat and adjust to the saved settings.

If a player wanted multiple tunings, they'd probably need to be tuned and saved individually.

I'd actually like to install this on many of the churches where I tune - the indoor temps and humidity swing so much that it is impossible to keep them in tune for very long!

Ron, not exactly related to “self-tuning” but I am curious about this …

Is there a "labor shortage" in the piano tech trade?

The airlines say they are not getting enough pilots, the schools say they are not getting enough teachers, the hospitals say they are not getting enough nurses. Just wondering if there is also a shortage of labor in the piano tech trade. What do you see in the business?

I'm keeping busy. (Chicago and near suburbs)

We lost some local techs during the pandemic - some died, some retired, some moved. I'm getting lots of new clients, even though I'm trying to be in semi-retired mode.

There are likely areas without any techs, and other areas with too many to support full-time work.

I would hope that the Piano Technicians Guild is trying to keep track of the market in the US.