Hi Susan and all, Your good article brought out several things that have been problems for all of us. Consider case parts removed. There is no best place. If you lean them they can fall, if you lay them on the floor they can scratch the floor but also someone can trip over them. If you lay them on a couch will the client like that? I have one client that makes sure I put the music desk of her Yamaha on a rug not her marble floor. On the subject of taking off shoes: I am not the most graceful person in the world and I don't know about you, but it is slippery in your socking feet, downright dangerous. On holes in socks, I try to be as careful as I can, as that is why I only purchase black socks. I never have to worry about matching them in the drawer, I just dump-em-in. The other thing is maybe some of you did a lot of barefooting when you were younger. I didn't. I hardly ever go barefoot at home even in the bedroom. Another thing is that I find it painful to try to depress the pedals to use them or test them out. This doesn't even approach the problem of removing an action and keybed on the slippery floor. I asked one of my (Asian) used to be Oriental, clients what was the objection to Oriental and why Asian was preferred. She really didn't have a good answer in my opinion for that. I do not use "Oriental" in a derogatory manner but I can't really tell the difference between Korean, Japanese, or Chinese. Is that bad? To me Asian should refer to the continent and the countries that make it up including India, Pakistan and , others. Supposedly one of the complaints other countries have is that on American maps, North America is in the center and the rest of the world is equally divided right and left. I can understand that some. But then I asked one of these people how the maps looked in their country and they informed me that their continent was in the middle and the rest of the world equally on each side. If that is true, so what. On benches, one of the first things I do is feel down and see if the bottom is secure on what I am sitting on. I do this for a couple of reasons. I have a side business of bench repair and building and have found that much of the rigidity of the bench comes from a secure bottom. When it is loose it puts all the pressure on the leg glue joints and corner brackets. Tomorrow I am taking my second new piano bench bottom replacement back to the client. I install a new plywood bottom that I glue, brad, and screw in place. I guarantee it for the length of my life. I have gotten quite good at this repair and can do it in just about 30 minutes. I charge $ 75 for it and can do it in just about 30 minutes in the shop. That makes $150 extra this week above tuning and it adds up over a period of time and gives me play time with my tools and wood along with making a stronger bench and usable again for music storage. If other parts of the bench are broken, it just adds up the total to repair. To me this is just as good as installing Damp-Chasers money wise and I enjoy the work. Any other thoughts on the socking feet slippery problem? Sorry to have rambled. James Grebe R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth Piano Service and Piano Periperals Creator of Hardwood PLTR's and Custom Piano Benches pianoman@inlink.com If I wake up in the morning, it WILL be a great day! minute in the shop
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC