On Wed, 7 Jun 1995 Djrue@aol.com wrote: > I am hoping for some advise on a recent problem. A client has an older > upright in basically playable condition except for the tuning. The plate has > a crack near the treble break that starts at a tuning pin & terminates at a > plate bolt below the pressure bar. The whole piano is about 50cents low & is > even lower in the treble above the crack. Should I attempt to tune this > piano? What are the possible consequences? Is there any sort of relatively > cheap fix? The client has little money & cannot afford to replace the piano > at this time. > Any advice will be greatly appreciated. This is exactly the type of piano I refer to either my assistant (who usually knows a goat when he sees one and passes) or my apprentice (who still doesn't know any better, bless her heart!). In any case, this sort of "handy-man special" is invariably a time-hog and perhaps a time-bomb. I have a token customer with almost the same piano (no cracks in the plate, the soundboard is another story) for whom I grant a special price. No, I don't scalp the living daylights out of her. Matter of fact, the fee she pays is the first fee I ever charged professionally. Part of the logic is that this piano sort of reminds me where I started (those ceiling-height verticals at Michigan State loom large in my memory!). Also, the woman who owns the instrument is so confounded proud of its heritage--it was passed down through several generations--that she drags out the original sales receipt *every time* I come to tune it! She's a sweet woman. Can't say no. Oh, and she doesn't mind that the piano's 1/2 step flat. As long as it plays right and sounds in tune, that's just fine with her. :-) Ron Torrella School of Music ** STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY ** University of Illinois
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