Gawd am I having fun yet?

[tune4u@earthlink.net]

Joe, this sort of thing needs to be handled with swift, decisive action and
a smooth bit of talking:

"I'm sorry, Madam, but your piano is suffering from Severe--dare I say
Galloping--Spinititis (complicated by Wimpy Whippen Syndrome and advanced
crudding of the distal and metacarpal flanges). This condition is contagious
and invariably fatal. We must euthanize the poor thing and cremate it
immediately! There will be $300 charge to take care of this before the EPA
gets wind of it. Now, please, stand back ..."

Alan Barnard, Graduate, Magnum cum P.I., of the Kevorikian School of Piano
Technology
Salem, MO



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On
Behalf Of Joseph Garrett
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2003 6:54 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Gawd am I having fun yet?


Just had ta give you all a chuckle/frown for the day.
Yesterday, (Saturday), I had the dubious honor of working on "Mom's Piano".
A 1953 Cable-Nelson Spinet. What a marvelous bit of stupid engineering!
Problem: a distinct clink/clunk when the Sustain pedal is fully depressed.
Hmmm? I first checked down below at the pedals, trapwork, etc. Found part of
it: the trapwork, Horizontal lever was banging into the plate strut, that
was so nicely put right next to it. Slightly repositioned the Horizontal so
it wouldn't do that. Romped on the pedal to check and the Clink was still
there! Hmmmm? After some head scratching, I got out the trusty flash light
and looked straight down the upper treble strut. Pressed the pedal and
Voila'! The damper lift rod was banging into that plate strut! OK, so I
start to remove the action, which has a "unitized" bracket that holds the
"sticker" rail as well. Humph! I've seen these before and as I recalled, no
problem....the whole enchilada comes out as a unit. OK take the action nuts
and one Wurly type action screw out. Remove the metal braces that support
the "Sticker rail" and give it an "umph"! NADA! The action will almost clear
the action bracket bolts, but not quite. AND...then the derned thing is
ridgid...won't go up/down/back/forth. Time for trusty flashlight again. Get
on back, stick head in lower section of piano, shine light up and lo and
behold the action brackets are hitting the back end of the keys!!! Damn!
Remove all the keys....Out it comes, in one fell swoop!
That aint the end of all this!! One other problem I surmised was that the
key cover didn't function very well. So, I decide to fix that too! Big
mistake! They installed the "guide/pivot bar", that is attached to the Key
Cover, sandwiched between the key frame and the key bed!!!! Solution Take
the key frame out. They had enough screws in that key frame to almost build
another piano! Gawd, am I having fun yet. Fortunately, the client was
forewarned that there would be an additional charge of at least an hour's
worth, but this little darling put me through the ringer, to be sure! Don't
ya just love it?<G> (Give me an "Over-Damper" Piano any day!!!!!<G>)
Best Regards,
Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)

Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}

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