6 old upright pianos

[Wimblees@aol.com]

David:

I agree with Curtis. Far too many old uprights are still in use, far beyond
their ability to produce music. It is our repsonsibility, as  piano
technicians, to explain to our customers that pianos were never intended to
be used for more than 75 or 100 years. I am not sugesting that every  75 or
100 year old piano be thrown away, but whenever the cost of repairing one is
greater than the worth of the piano after the repairs have been made, it
should be considered a total loss, and thrown away. (save the good stuff).

Giving them to a church is the worst thing you can do, The church might be
grateful, but most of the time they don't have the money to repair them
properly, and 10 or 15 years down the road, the church will have to pay
someone to take the piano out and shoot it, (take it to the dump.)

Here is what I do when the customer tells you the thing belonged to her
grandmother, and that her father was born under the thing, and that she was
conceived on top of it,  I make a light of the idea of having to send the old
upright to its grave by asking her what her family did with her granmother
when she died. I say: "do the same thing with the piano, and give it a decent
burial." I explain that I have been given the authority to give the piano its
last rites. It might sound sacraligeous, but so far, I haven't had any
complaints, and the customers do understand.

Both Barbs have the best ideas, use them for catapult fodder, or have a
demolition derby, but please, don't try to recycle these things.

Willem Blees RPT
St. Louis