Cover Your Brass ... was Music Desk Price

[gordon stelter]

Hi Terry,
    I just gave a big music desk from a big player
grand to a friend. Mahogany. Might still be
avaialable.
     Thump

--- Alan <tune4u@earthlink.net> wrote:
> 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
>  
> 
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release
> Date: 10/9/2003
>  
> 


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
http://photos.yahoo.com/