HOURLY RATE: $120 + 13% HST (Harmonized Sales Tax). There is a one-hour minimum charge for each visit, with the total time above one hour rounded up to the nearest half-hour.
SINGLE TUNING FEE: $120 + HST. Minor maintenance issues that are detected during a tuning and can be quickly remedied will be absorbed into the cost of a single tuning.
Depending on the client's location, surcharges to cover travel expenses may be levied and included in the final invoice, regardless of the kind of service provided.
Additional charges for supplies may be necessary if a large quantity is used up during the course of the work or specialized materials need to be ordered. I try not to use clients' personal supplies unless their instrument has proprietary parts that cannot be purchased or replicated.
Jobs are billed by the hour (client visits are often billed this way if an instrument just needs going over and basic regulation), while others may be charged a flat rate based on an estimate I give upon evaluating the condition of the instrument.
Any estimate communicated to a prospective client and agreed to by the client is considered firm even if it contradicts the figures posted on this page.
Payment is due either at the end of an in-person visit, or upon completion of the work and receipt of my invoice. Payment can be made by cash, cheque, Interac e-transfer, or online by credit card.
I am bonded and carry business insurance, so your instrument is covered by my insurance both when I work on-location at your address and at my workshop.
Harpsichord tuning services are available for concert performances, recordings or as part of the regular upkeep of instruments in domestic or institutional settings. I tune whatever temperament is desired, and can accommodate instruments with either historical (tapered) or modern (square, zither) tuning pins.
I also tune fortepianos, clavichords and small chamber organs.
FEE: $120 + HST
I do not tune modern pianos.
Maintenance for harpsichords includes replacing individual plectra or broken strings, touching up the voicing of a register, regulating register on/off positions, adjusting jack heights and staggering, adjusting or replacing individual dampers, adjusting depth of touch, replacing worn padding and fixing other minor matters that need to be remedied to keep a harpsichord in top playing shape. Sometimes, basic maintenance issues such as a broken string or plectrum can be addressed during a tuning visit at no extra charge, as long as they can be quickly remedied. Routine maintenance is usually performed on-site at the client's address.
Basic maintenance services are also offered for clavichords (string replacement, listing cloth reweaving, tangent adjustments) and fortepianos as well (string replacement, hammer letoff regulation).
FEE: Hourly rate or estimate.
Refurbishment covers scenarios in which routine maintenance issues have accumulated to the point that more involved work on a note-by-note basis is required. This includes replacing all plectra in a register and voicing the new quills, full damper replacement on a complete register and complete restringing with new wire.
Repairs involve significant work on the instrument's wooden parts due to damage, neglect or structural problems. Past projects have included removing and regluing loose pinblocks (first unstringing the instrument, then restringing afterwards), repairing damage to casework, replacing split or unglued hitchpin rails, fixing seized registers, shimming cracked or split soundboards and making complete replacement keyboards.
FEE: By estimate.
Unfinished instruments in kit form, such as those sold by Zuckermann or Hubbard Harpsichords, can be completed in my workshop. One such project involved finishing a partly-built King of Sweden clavichord kit, for which a matching stand in solid cherry was custom-made.
FEE: By estimate.
Appraisal services are available to value an instrument for insurance coverage or for possible sale.
FEE: $200 + HST
I am presently investing in 3D printing equipment to produce replacement parts for obsolete plastic jacks, particularly the jack tongue/spring combinations that become useless when the integrated spring breaks off due to age.
If you have non-working plastic jacks for which new parts are no longer available, I invite you to contact me to see if a solution can be found.
Please note that in order to respect intellectual property, I will not duplicate parts that are currently available from the original maker (such as tongues for modern Zuckermann I-beam jacks, for example).
This section will be updated when I am ready to begin making parts.
I do not sell common supplies for harpsichords, such as plectra and replacement strings. I purchase supplies only for my own maintenance work but will freely share my sources for these items with clients. There is no advantage in either cost or speed in asking me to purchase these items on your behalf when you can order for yourself from the same suppliers I use.