re; Rebuilding Cost Adjustments

[Avery Todd]

>
> Avery Todd writes;
>
>>  We recently had returned a rebuilt S&S 'B' which needs to have a few
>relatively minor problems corrected. I have never been in this situation
>before and would like some comments on whether or not any cost adjustment
>>should be done before the bill is paid in full.
>
>  > Should I just forget it and go ahead, or make some price adjustment.
>>This was not done by anyone in this general area, so there is a
>>considerable distance problem in asking the rebuilder to come and do the
>>work.
>
>Avery, ( and of course, List),
>
>     If I sent a job out that required additional work, far away,  I would
>feel obligated to go finish the job, or pay somebody there to do it. (That
>somebody better have a very clear agreement with the rebuilder about how much
>responsibility they will be assuming, by trying to correct or finish a
>rebuild that they did not do!) Also,  I would want to deal with a top-grade
>technician, and I would expect to be paying top dollar for their time.

Ed,
   Thanks for the reply. I will be doing the additional work necessary to
correct these problems. I have talked to the rebuilder and that is
agreeable with him.

>
>     I am not sure I can point out ways of limiting your liability, but is
>the lack of sound due to the hammers, for sure?
>     It is always possible that the sounding-structure, either by bearing
>differences or soundboard  distortion, has become unbalanced, and no hammer
>in the world is going to make the piano feel responsive.
>     I would install a couple of mounted Steinway hammers from a similar
>piano that is in good favor, and listen to the tonal quality they produce.
>
>
>Good luck, keep us posted on how the situation develops.
>
>Ed Foote
>Precision Piano Works
>Nashville

   I really don't think this is the problem because the overall sound of
the piano is good. It simply has too mellow a sound. This is in a piano
teachers studio who has a lot of advanced students who do big concertos
(Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, etc.) and there just isn't enough power for those
things.
   Trying some other hammers is an excellent idea and I will do so, just to
be sure. We have two S&S D's with excellent hammers for me to borrow from.
   Thanks again for your suggestions.

_____________________________________
Avery Todd, RPT
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4893
713-743-3226
atodd@uh.edu
_____________________________________