Crown Upright Re-build

[Arlin Hall]

Hello.  I am a new piano technician, probably more of a "tooner" by many of
y'all's definition.  I graduated from one of the correspondence courses (not
Potter, which I hope to take down the road a piece), and am doing tuning and
minor adjustments and repairs at this point.  I hope to expand that as I
gain experience.

Tonight, I tuned a 100+ year old Geo. P. Bent "Crown" Orchestral Grand
Upright.  My customers (and I) were quite happy with how the tuning turned
out.  However, as might be expected given the age of the piano, there are
many clicks and other such noises throughout the piano.  Alot of felts
either missing or compacted so tighly they might as well not be there.  The
action in general is functional but very rickety, etc.  This piano has been
in the owner's family since its initial purchase and was bought directly
from the manufacturer up in Illinois.

The owners are trying to decide whether to have this piano rebuilt /
restored or to buy a new one.  Given the sentimental value of having such an
instrument in the family for such a long time, I think they may want to have
it rebuilt if it is feasible.  From my estimation, the action parts would
vitually all need to be replaced and / or recovered.  The keys are in good
condition, the pin block is solid and the pins haven't been tapped or doped,
as far as I can tell.  The sound board has 4 or 5 cracks, one of which ahs
been repaired.  The frame / furniture aspect of the piano is in great shape
for its age.  I would also guess that if we were going to do all of this
that we might as well throw new strings on as well.

First of all, I know that this is a job that is way out of my league, so I
would need to find someone in the Austin Texas area that would be willing to
do the job.  But before we go there, I would would like to get your opinion
on how to repond to some of their questions:

1.  Assuming the action could be rebuilt and the strings replaced, how
nearly would such a repaired piano resemble a new piano in sound and
playability?

2.  Is it feasible to take apart the frame so that the soundboard can be
replaced (Can the sound board even BE replaced?)

3.  How many thousand dollars would such a job cost (ball park figure would
be fine).

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

By the way, I've been reading the digests of post on the board and have
learned a great deal from lurking around you all on the board.  I hope to be
joining the Austin chapter of the PTG soon.

Thanks,
Arlin