"Standards" stranded in isolation

[jolly roger]

Hi Dave,
              For what it's worth, I've have given up trying to patch this
kind of job.  It's usually a no win situation.  It is beyond me why some
techs will repin the flanges and replace the rollers.   The labour involved
plus the cost of rollers, vs the cost of new shank's just does'nt make it
viable to me.

I would have told the customer she still needs new shanks, and showed her
why.  She would then draw her own conclusion about the previous tech.

Unless you know the tech well.  You could end up in a mud slinging match,
no percentage in that.  If the person is approachable, then by all means
talk to him, but ask him what he intends to do to make things right.

It is obvious you are not happy with the outcome,  but you did what you
could under the circumstances.  No doubt big improvements. 

The customer has hired you because she was not satisfied with the piano.
Things are clear, you owe her the unfortunate cruel truth.

I hate that type of job.

Roger   



At 11:22 PM 8/11/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Our mission is to raise standards by improving
>ourselves and promote awareness of a sometimes
>illusive "standard".
>
>I wonder if I am amiss in my duty to avoid facing a 
>technician.....Would anyone bother persuing this?
>
>Client has a $5000 rebuild job done on a 6" Hientzman.
>(Canadian$)
>
>Nice shims. Strings,pins.hmmm... Action does not work.
>
>Client complained and the "store" had $1000 of
>regulation done under consultation with yet another 
>"technician" to "fix it"....I have no idea what was
>done. I was called in for a second opinion.
>
>I charged aprox. $500 Canadian to improve what
>I found as follows......
>
>1) Able hammers with massive rectangular tails 
>   glued on out of the box, no attempt at tail
>shaping.
>   I shaped them. Absolutely no repetition spring
>   action, tails too heavy....now they work.  
>
>2)Drop screws turned ALL the way up, so the rep.
>  lever would lift the hammer at least 1/4 to 1/2
>  inch above the string level if they could have.
>
>3) New rollers, some glued on at 30 to 40 degree   
>angles, I  reglued about dozen or so. 
>
>4) Hammer strike line crooked in top half of piano.
> I did not start removing and regluing hammers. 
> Nothing regular about the "regulation" at all,
> At least now the hammers don't look like the
> rocky mountains, and there is now let-off,drop,rep.  
>springs, and even checking, burned in shanks so      
>they are at least strait up and down. Leveled some
>string (really opened up the bass), taped some sting  
>,little bit of voicing in the top end, lube
>things a bit. Sounds much, much better. Could do
>more fitting of hammers to strings.
>
>5) Nothing done to dampers/pedals...noisy.
>
>6) Should have had new pinblock...new pins are
>   at different hights, some flush with plate
>   to compensate. 
>
>In all about 5 hrs in shop & 7 hours in home,
>plus transport of action.
>
>What has me somewhat amazed is that a $5000 bill
>was collected followed by a $1000 "service".
>Forget being fussy, as far as I'm concerned it
>actually did not even work.
>
>They did bother to repin all the flanges....
>good and tight.                  
>
>Lets remind ourselves not to be too shy to ask for 
>help....there is lots left to learn.   
>
>                              Cheers
>                              Dave Renaud  
>                              RPT
>                           
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