Hi All, I thought you all might be interested to learn that in
the northern part of New Jersey, piano tuners now command $95.00
for a regular piano tuning!  That's not a typo: $95.00 !

As a result of discovering this information, my prices went from
$72.00/hr (for labor) to $80.00/hr today.  I guess you could say
I gave myself an 11% raise. ;-)  And considering that I haven't
raised my prices since 1997, I think that's fair.

It might also interest some of you to know that when I told this
particular piano tuner/rebuilder, whom I helped train by in the
mid-seventies, that I was still charging $72.00/hr., he said I was
out of my mind!

Then he said something I didn't expect.  He said, "player piano
technicians are typically much more talented than piano tuners,
and in my opinion, they should charge 20%-25% more than regular
piano tuner/technicians (for their labor)."

Based on that assumption, my hourly rate should be somewhere in
the vicinity of $96.00 to $100.00 per hour.

Food for thought,

John A. Tuttle