Spinet Blues

[Farrell]

I did a 100-cent pitch raise and tuned a 1970-ish Kohler & Campbell spinet last Friday. The lady had complained that several keys did not work - a hammer-shank metal sleeve repair had failed and the broken hammer was tangled in several notes. "How much to fix Mr. Farrell?" So I thought, hmmmm, how much to replace one hammer shank? Take out - two minutes, drill out old shank stub in butt and replace shank (in shop) - 10 minutes, stop back within day or two (piano is only about 3 miles from me) while on my way somewhere else and pop it back in - 10 minutes, total - 22 minutes. "Oh, about $20 Ms. Painofapiano."

I guess it had been a long time since I tried to remove and replace a hammer butt on a spinet. I took me 45 minutes to replace the repaired butt and its neighbor (that I had removed for shank length, etc.). Access was next to zero. This piano had the wooden drop stickers that severely limited access. Even something a simple as reattaching the bridle straps was next to impossible.

I'm thinking that the next time someone asks me to repair something "down in there" on a spinet action, I'll simply quote them my hourly fee, plus a little for frustration, and tell them I'll move as quickly as I reasonably can.

What a pain! I wish that I had committed to doing something simple, like installing a soundboard for the $20.

Terry Farrell