This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi Phil. You mention that there is little falseness present. Repinning = the bridge in epoxy and resurfacing/renotching will do three things for = you - it will tend to correct falseness (maybe not important here), add = longevity to a clean sound (perhaps worthwhile here), and make the = bridge look like new (almost always important to the piano owner). I wish to address a concept I find interesting and have made my policy = regarding rebuilding recommendations. I always address the issue of = whether it makes financial and musical sense to = repair/refurbish/rebuild/remanufacture a piano. I think we all know what = the rules are here - 1950s spinets are rarely worth doing more than an = elbow replacement and a regulation - while Bosendorfers and Mason & = Hamlins are almost always worth a complete remanufacturing effort. Many = pianos fall somewhere in between these two extremes. But there is another consideration. An owner may decide that THIS piano = is THE piano the WILL stay in this room forever and it will be the ONLY = piano that will ever be in this house (or whereever). Reasons can be = many: our old favorite - sentimental value; the antique piano case goes = so well with the antique furniture; Tiny Tim once played this piano; or = I have even heard that because a prominent church member donated the = miserable little spinet to the church, they will have no other piano to = replace it. For what ever reason, the piano owner has decided that piano = X is THE piano. Now the task has changed - you need to do what you can = to make what they have into the piano they need (obviously, there will = be limitations here, but you have gotten around the issue of "is the = piano worth it" - you've got a different set of rules to go by). At this point the fun begins because you have stripped away the = investment logic thing. Now you are simply faced with what can be done = with this piano and how much are they willing to spend on a piano. It = can make for fun projects. I have done refurbishings on a couple family = heirloom spinets for $2,000+ - refinish, refurbish action, etc. - make = 'em look like new and play as good as they can - VERY happy customers. = My first couple grand "rebuilds" (maybe major refurbishings would be = better term) were much like you are looking at with your Howard = (refurbish bridge, rescale, restring, plug pinblock, refurbish action, = refinish, deliver & watch smiles - collect check & feel smile - pianos = look like a million bucks, sound better than most spinets, and play, = well, er, ah, better than most spinets). Getting back to this particular case, you may want to feel your customer = out a bit more and see if she is interested in going further with the = piano. If it is older - maybe more than 40 or 50 years, you may want to = consider more action work. If you are contemplating new hammers, it = almost always makes BIG TIME sense to replace shanks, knuckles, and = flanges at the same time (folks like Wally Brooks make this real easy = for newbies like us - personally, someone would have to push me real = hard to replace just hammers). Wippens are amazingly durable when only = talking reasonable function.=20 Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. Just some thoughts. Good luck! Let us = know what goes here Phil. Terry Farrell ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Phil Bondi=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 8:39 PM Subject: Re: Bridging the cap Terry, Wim, Sir Newton, and Roger: Thanks. This person wants to put some money into this piano because: She loves the size..it fits in her living room. She likes the idea of bringing something back to life. She trusts my opinion. I told her to do a complete restoration, she's looking at spending = more than what the piano will ever be worth..that got the ball rolling = as far as what to do. Re-capping the bridge was something that I thought = might enhance this little devil.=20 Your opinions matter, and I have decided that re-capping in this case = is not necessary.=20 I agree that re-surfacing and re-pinning the bridge(there's very = little falseness going on now) is the right approach in this instance. Now let's see which 'road' she follows(my recommendations are based on = 'must do', 'should do', and 'could do'). Something tells me the = perennial 'path of least resistance' will be followed. Phil ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/8c/f0/c0/e6/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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