Refinishing and painted cases

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi Ray,

About the second year as a masked inharmonicity fighter, I showed up for an
appointment and found a "refinished" old upright. The poor guy had hauled
the piano home and tried to strip it. Finding a lot of loose veneer, he
pulled it *all* off, cross banding and all, and varnished the core lumber.
It was WONDERFUL! Knots and all, it looked like the Ponderosa Chuck Wagon
piano. Trouble is, it was untunable. "Farm out, who'da thunkit". I (gently,
and with my back to the door) informed him that I could have condemned it
prior to his moving it and saved him a lot of grief. It's sad to laugh at
something this pitiful, but sometimes you just can't help yourself.

Also around this time, there were a lot of old uprights painted with that
institutional bathroom spatter paint, it two different colors yet. Then
there were the two small grands that had been stripped with an automotive
body grinder. The first one was black (not ebony - BLACK), and the second,
about ten years later, was funky brown. That one, seems like it was a
Harwood, was given to me and I sold it to a wholesaler. I shudder to think
where it ended up. What would Newton say?

They're out there, where you least expect them - like Alan Funt. Go ahead,
make fun of them a little. The customer HAS to know it's a dog. Casually
drop technical terms like "crappie shelter", "compost", and "ballast". Point
out that, though it's dead, it's very shiny. They like that. 

Luck, Ron


At 06:40 PM 1/6/98 EST, you wrote:
>Hi list,
> 
> I have a customer with an old S&S model K upright. When I walked into her
> house for the first time, I saw that it had been "refinished" by being painted
> over with high gloss white enamel house paint. Needless to say, the action was
> shot, a fact which I only found out after having to pry loose all the case
> parts. I warned her what would happen to those pretty edges when I separated
> the parts. It was just like when you go into an old house to discover the
> windows painted shut. It was a splendid time, I'll tell you. I guess my
> question is, who else has seen refinishing like this, and how do you keep a
> straight face when you do see it? What should my reaction be, and what is the
> best way to be diplomatic about it?
> 
> Ray 
> 



 Ron Nossaman