Cover Your Brass ... was Music Desk Price

[Alan]

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I have had great success repairing and strengthening the bottom corners
of music desks using ...
 
First: Thick epoxy molded to fit any missing spinters, etc., and
completely filling any screw holes. Sand it smooth when dry. Then ...
 
Second: Use small strips of brass plate to hide the ugliness on each end
AND wrap it around so that your newly drilled screw holes go through the
metal as well as the wood!
 
Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO

-----Original Message-----
From: Farrell [mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com] 
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 7:15 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Music Desk Price


Dear Esteemed List Contributors,
 
I'm looking for some opinions on what would be a fair price for a
custom-built music desk. It is for a 1920s Baldwin grand. It is a
duplicate of the original in mahogany (as was the original) and finished
to match the previously refinished (reddish stain, clear lacquer) piano.
 
Is there a source for any type of complete music desk? Can one buy a
music desk from a manufacturer for a current model piano (a Steinway, a
Yamaha or whatever)? I'm thinking a fair price might be the price of a
new Yamaha desk plus some percentage (like maybe 50%?) for the custom
fit and finish.
 
Any opinions?
 
Background - for those interested in the sordid details - go for it:
 
I have chosen not to charge for my time. I will not do that. This has
been the project from he%%, and I brought it on myself. Someone leaned
on the end of the music desk and broke the wood at the end-slot. It
started out that I would try and glue it back together. After getting it
back to my shop and looking more closely I realized that the break would
not fit together very well and any glue joint would be obvious - it
really needed an epoxy job, but that would get even more ugly looking. I
noticed that the other end was cracked also. The wood grain of the
original runs parallel with the ends (new ones go parallel with the long
axis of the desk). She said she wanted it to look nice - the piano has a
nice finish in very good condition. So I suggested that we just replace
the ends and refinish to match the original. She agreed, but we did not
talk fees (yes, yes, yes, I know, please spare me the lecture!!!). I
feel very comfortable charging something beyond the price of a new
Yamaha desk (my guess is maybe in the $200 - $300 range - but that's
just a wild guess), but I am no cabinet maker, and this project has
taken me umpteen unmentionable hours - I can't charge for my time - I
feel that if there was a mistake made here, it was my mistake in not
knowing how long it would take for me to do this kind of work.
 
I have no hesitation charging full fees for a well-defined set of
services - I do that all the time. I just charged a guy $2K for applying
472 band-aids to an old worn out square grand (only new parts that went
on it was a set of damper felts). Was the work musically worth that
price? No way. But I accurately and fully described exactly what I would
be doing, and what the results would be (and the results were as poor as
I predicted). He agreed, and I charged him (and he paid with a smile!).
My music desk project lacks that kind of clarity - so that is why I feel
the need to pursue a different fee-determination method.
 
Terry Farrell

 
Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO
 

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