May 14th - Steinway Gallery Meeting

Posted on May 4, 2008 
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Hi, Everyone,

We learned a great deal from Candace last month in her technical about prepping the Steinway Grand piano(s) when they come into the store. From that we learned a great deal that would go along with “pre”- regulating the pianos.

We are so proud to have Kent Webb, from Steinway, New York, to be at the Nashville Steinway Gallery in Nashville on May 14, 2008, starting at 3:00 PM. All the chapter members will want to arrive a bit earlier so we can have and conclude a very short business meeting, and then Kent will have the floor with his presentation.

I know you all will want to be there, and I encourage you to come. The Steinway Gallery is providing a meal that will be a the conclusion of Kent’s program, and to know how much to have for everyone, I need to know if you are going to be there and if you are bringing a friend so we’ll have enough food for everyone. So, if you will, I need you to send me a “Brief” e-mail to my e-mail address >>> DLTassinpiano@Juno.com by May 7th. Brandon, at the Gallery, will need to know a number of people to expect and I must tell him shortly after that date. So, LET ME HEAR FROM YOU !!!

I know everyone can make this meeting. We want to see you there, and I know you will learn a lot. There will be a Q: & A: session, so write down all your questions and come on.

Remember, the presentation starts at 3:00 PM, Wed., May 14th. Come early !!

We eat after the program about 6:00 PM.

Thanks, guys and gals. Let me know if you are coming !!

We’ll see you there. Thanks,

Danny

April 8th Meeting

Posted on April 2, 2008 
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Hi, Everyone,

I hope you all had a great Easter Holiday, and that everyone is doing well.  I know everyone is busy, and that’s what it’s all about.  To “stay in the know” is how you develop yourself to promote your business.

If you missed the last meeting, you missed a good one.  Our THANKS goes to Dale Whitehead, RPT, for bringing our technical about action prep for repairs and regulation.  There were some great tips covered.  We had good participation from our members and all learned a new tip that was “worth the price of admission,” as Dale mentioned.   Dale started our first in a series of 3 meetings leading up to Kent Webb, Steinway, New York, coming in May.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, April 8, 2008, and our own, talented Candace Wilkens, RPT, will be hosting our technical at the Nashville Steinway Gallery.  Dinner is at 6:00PM, and the meeting will start promptly at 6:30.  She will be giving the 2nd in our series of grand piano prep, repairs, regulation, voicing technicals, etc.  Read (below) what she will be bringing to the shop table for discussion.  Please come and ask questions.   I feel you will find her presentation to be very educational.

Hi Everybody,

 

 I Hope you can make it to the April 8th, PTG meeting at the Steinway Piano Gallery. The technical part of the meeting will be what I do to each new Steinway when it arrives at the store to prepare it to sell.  This will include correcting anything that has happened during shipping, going through the regulation, and we will touch on voicing.

 

Hope to see you there,


Candace

ASSOCIATES !!  Please tell me (us) how we can help you.  I am still planning this year to establish technicals and “in-house” chapter seminars to help you prepare for the RPT test.  Even if you don’t want to achieve the RPT status level, it would be worth the education to prepare, participate, and take all the test to acquire a minimum knowledge of what it takes to become a Registered Piano Technician.  We strive in our chapter to achieve the highest level of accomplishment in this field.  The other RPT members in this chapter will help you achieve that goal if only you come and participate in all that PTG

has to offer you.    Also, please read in this month’s JOURNAL about technical training offered at the Home Office, Kansas City, Mo., that is aimed and guided to help you, the Associate, to learn and prepare for testing to become an RPT.   Believe me, it is ALL worth your while.

Mark your calender and I hope to see ALL of you at the Steinway Gallery April 8th.   We have a lot to talk about and discuss about the rest of this year’s events coming up.  We voted on a very important issue involving our chapter last month.  If you want to find out that, and much more, please come.  We’d love to see you and talk with you.  Come be a part of what you are a member.

Thanks,

Dan

March 11th Meeting

Posted on March 3, 2008 
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Our next meeting will be at Shuff’s Piano Store, Tuesday, March 11th, 6 PM.  >>>  Shuff’s Piano, 127 2nd Ave. North, Franklin, TN.

        “IF” you need help or directions, you can call Sasha:  (615) 261-8888. 

        Dale is starting off our series of technicals that Tuesday night.  I hope everyone who can, will attend and learn from this well experience piano technician.  We are so thankful to Shuff Piano for hosting this month’s meeting location.

 

 Hi All,
I am so glad to do a technical for the next meeting. The technical deals with the fundamentals or “The Foundation” if you will, of preparing a grand action for regulation/voicing.

We’ll discuss:
1. Prepping the keybed
2. Mating the action frame to the keybed
3. Proper setting of glide bolts
4. Treating the backrail felt….relating to noise
5. Key end felt replacement….relating to noise
6. Parts traveling

That aught’a take at least 5 minutes or so!  Ha!
Actually, with everyone throwing in their two cents worth (and that’s what we want) that might be a lot of territory to cover. It’s a start, though….we’ll see what’cha think.

I hope you all will be there.

Thanks,

Dale, V.P.

 

         See you ALL at Shuff’s Piano March 11th.   Come early and mingle.  WE start to eat (with or without you) at 6 PM.  … and as always: “IF WE DON’T EAT, WE DON’T MEET !”   Steve and Leslie is supplying for you once again.   

        So …   Ya’ll Come !! ….  I L C U there …… 

 

Dan

Up and Coming Events

Posted on March 1, 2008 
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Next month Candace will continue with our series on Steinway piano(s) series at the Steinway Gallery.  She will be showing us her piano prep. details in completing the Steinway pianos for sale or concert readiness.  You will want to make that meeting.  In May, we have the very knowledgeable, Kent Webb, from Steinway, N.Y., to join us once again at the Nashville’s Steinway Gallery.  Kent will conclude this series of meetings with his technical on Final Regulation checks and Voicing the Steinway Grand Piano(s) for Concert Performance.  We will start that meeting Wed. May 14th, at 3 PM and conclude by 6 PM for folks to drive home.  We are inviting your neighbors from the East. I’ve contacted Jim Ellis, President, Knoxville Chapter PTG, and he will let his chapter know about Kent Webb coming to Nashville.  We will be more than happy to have any and all of the Knoxville techs who wish to come.  So, we hope ALL the Nashville Chapter will come to the May meeting to be host and friend to all visitor who attend.   Let’s make Kent welcome, and come learn from a very well experience technician who can and will answer all question you may have before the end of the meeting.   Oh, and come hungry.  The Steinway Gallery is being so gracious to supply the snacks/supper for our meeting.   We will let you know more as time approaches.   An  RSVP  will be needed from you if you plan to attend to have a count for supper.

        We are working on bringing your chapter back together with new and wonderful technicals to assist you in your learning and training to learn more to help you in your experience and business as a well knowledgeable and experience piano technician.

         Associates …  you aren’t being left out (yet).  Ha!   We need ALL of you to attend each and every meeting.  You will want to express yourself and your needs to us (me) the RPTs, our CTE’s, and get tested this year to upgrade to RPT.   If you have not taken the written, let us (me) know.  If you need more help, I want to do that for you as well.  I’m thinking this summer of having a “special” meeting session for Associates ONLY to help you learn what you need to know for the Written, the Technical Test, and the TUNING TEST !!   It’s not hard, but it will be if you don’t come, participate in all the meetings, and voice your needs to those who can help you.  Our goal is to have ALL the Associates upgraded to RPT within the next two years.   If you’ve been tuning, repairing, going to meetings, going to conventions, then you will have no problems.   Come to the meetings.  You will see what I mean when I lay out my plan to get you up graded.

 

        We also have a special message from Sandy Roady, membership leader, from the Home Office for ALL the Associates.   She writes,

————

Dear Chapter Members ( Associates ),

 

We’re encouraging the Associates in your chapter to take advantage of a great new opportunity for upgrading to RPT.  The PTG Home Office in Kansas City has scheduled a weekend test center on April 26 and 27 and we are now accepting applications from current Associates who have passed the RPT written examination within the last four years.

 All Associate members will be receiving an email soon about the test center. They can call (913) 432-9975 or e-mail us at ptg@ptg.org to request an application and more information.  Chapter Officers, you can help by contacting potential candidates in your chapter and urging them to come to Kansas City in April.  If you need to administer the written exam, please do so soon so all Associates can come, participate and learn more through association of the Home Office and your chapter.   We encourage all CTEs in or near your chapter to help in getting these Associates tested and upgrades to RPT soon.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Sandy Roady

———–

 

Dan

February Meeting Notes

Posted on February 27, 2008 
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We hope you all have had and are having a great start to the new year 2008. I’m writing to let you know that we had a great start last month at James’ shop.It was the first of our meetings to start in the 2008 season. James had the floor to show us video and talk to us about his “new” design piano he is engineering himself. The demo video was very impressive. It was extremely interesting to see the piano work force team in China developing James’ design into a full form piano as they formed the plate, soundboard, pin block, cabinet, etc. If you didn’t get to see this DVD of James’, you will want to see it another time when he shows it to us. James, we look forward to updates and the conclusion of the final design. Comparisons were very impressive.

At the Feb. meeting, we had a Forum to nominate and vote in new officers for our chapter. Yours Truly was voted President. Dale Whitehead was voted as your Vice President. Candace Wilkins is still voted in as our Treasurer. Steve and James have done an OUTSTANDING job leading the chapter over the past years. All agree they deserve a round of applause, and will always help when needed. They deserve a great rest, now, as I take the rains and lead this chapter on in building your knowledge in piano technology, piano businesses, work ethic, etc. We also have the responsibility as a PTG Chapter to teach others who acquire membership in our organization. We help each other to learn from one another. We become better trained, experienced, and our customers become better served as the bottom line factor.

I was very surprised and happy to know that the chapter has great confidence in my ability. Being voted in (hands down) as your President, I will serve as best as I can. However, I can only do what I think best. To make improvements to the meetings, technicals, etc., I need your help. If you ever have ideas, thoughts, suggestions, please feel free to call or e-mail me your wishes. Also, please start coming to the meetings. That is the BEST place to learn, and also to express your opinions, thought, wants, and needs as a member of the Nashville Chapter PTG.

We were SO happy to have two visitors at our Feb. meeting. Jim Burgar and Austin Seale were there to see and hear what we are all about. I hope if you see and talk to both of them this week, invite them back to learn more about the Nashville Chapter PTG.

Thanks, everyone. I hope you will all be encourage to keep coming, or start coming back, to the Nashville Chapter PTG meetings. We are starting a NEW year with ideas to help you (no matter what your level of experience) excel in your business. The name of the game is to “make money” and to do that, you need to be “armed” with knowledge of your trade.

Dan

February 12th Meeting

Posted on February 4, 2008 
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Hey PTG folks,

It has been a long time since a meeting. How ’bout we get together at my shop Tuesday, Feb 12th at 6:00 PM.

We have not had a meeting since the initiation of our latest chapter project which was to help John Fox finish up his two pianos.  This meeting should mark the end of this project. The last piano is all but finished. We just need to get together and check it out.

Also, I will show a 15-20 minute video of my China piano factory travels. I feel you will find this to be very interesting.

It would be great to see all the Associates at the meeting. We’d like to discuss plans to get everyone upgraded to RPT. We also will discuss ideas for future meetings. Bring your comments and questions if you have problems in the shop, and others in the chapter will discuss their thoughts and ideas to help with solutions.

We really would love to have a 100% turn out at this meeting. It’s very important for everyone to make an effort to attend. There will be things we need to decide on that will involve you and your thoughts for the future of this chapter.

Come back and be a part of the Nashville Chapter, PTG, and all it has to offer you in your work and career.

Come early and eat with us. We’ll have supper at 6:00 PM, and the meeting will start promptly at 6:30 PM.

As always, ” If we don’t EAT, we don’t MEET.” See you there.

James Arledge RPT