informal survey further

[Les Smith]

On Tue, 30 Dec 1997, Delwin Fandrich wrote: I once had a piano that
> someone  had stripped the original finish with a belt sander. It took
> some  veneering but the end result was quite good. It can all be done,
> but . . .

Under the heading "Tales of the Unbelievable", about ten years ago I
had the opportunity to see a Steinway 19th century rosewood concert
grand that had had veneer damage on the long side. The rebuilder had
removed all of the veneer on that side with a large DISC SANDER! Then
ha squared everything off as best he could and applied the new veneer
over a surface that resembled the Canadian Rockies. The end result de-
fies description. He could have done a far better job just using con-
tact paper over the original surface. When I mentioned the fact that
the job looked a "little rough", he replied that no one would ever see
it because that side would be placed close up against a wall. The rest
of the rebuild was of the same quailty as the veneer repair job. In
fact, it was one of the few rebuilds I seen in recent years that play-
ed as good as it looked! My only thought was that maybe he was planning  
on placing the KEYBOARD close up against a wall, too. Incredible, but
true!  So is the fact that he's still in business.

Les Smith