Back to Brambach

Ron Nossaman nossaman@SOUTHWIND.NET
Fri, 3 Sep 1999 08:00:39 -0500 (CDT)


>Ron,
>     Are you sure you never saw it again?   Dumped pianos have a peculiar way
>of reappearing in homes, as if they have nine lives or something.   Next time
>be sure to use fire followed by a wooden stake through the heart.
>-Mike
>


Hi Mike,
Before I loaded it in the truck, the owners took the lid, legs, music rack,
action, lyre, fallboard and keyslip, and the brass nose bolt nuts. I
couldn't decide if they had formed an emotional bond with these particular
parts, or just took them to keep me from driving to the nearest dealer and
selling the piano for big bucks (this, after they had failed to find someone
who would haul the *intact* piano off free). I suspect the latter. Pity, a
Brambach action model would have been an interesting thing to set in front
of an apprentice. In the interest of being thorough, I stopped at the shop
on the way to the dump and clipped all the strings, just in case, but I
stopped short of actually breaking plate struts. It's a good thing I did
too, because, as I was tipping the remains out of the truck, someone
informed me that one of the local music stores would give me $150 for that
valuable plate. I thought, "Boy, it's a good thing I didn't bust it up,
huh?", and told him he could have it, but as I drove away, I noticed him
doing the same without his $150 plate. Odd, don't you think? You don't
usually see rich folk at the dump. In any case, I don't think the piano will
be back.

I might add that  this whole thing started with a tuning appointment, and me
telling the owner that the piano wasn't serviceable without a whole bunch of
work, which I recommended against because of the poor quality of the piano
in the first place. The money would be better spent on a piano with more
potential. Since they had already spent too much to get the piano into it's
then current condition, they had offered to just give it to me for the
hauling. I declined, and that's when they started phoning around.


 Ron N



This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC