Spinet Blues

[Alan]

Was that a Thayer action? I've never had to do it, but doesn't the whole
thing lift out fairly easily (at least compared to wires)?

Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Farrell
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 6:40 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Spinet Blues

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
  
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