Pulling my hair out (what's left of it anyway)

[John Ross]

The worst player story, I have is, as follows.
Lady called, and said "do you repair player pianos" I said yes.
She then told me her son, had taken it apart, and couldn't get it together 
again.
I assumed, disconnected the hoses, and couldn't figure out where they went.
Easy one, I thought.
Wrong.
I got there, and she showed me a few boxes, and a big jar, with a lot of 
screws.
He had stripped the upper action right down, and what I had was all the 
screws mixed up, all the bellows material, and hinges, had been removed, so 
I had a pile of wooden parts. Nothing had been numbered or, sorted. Just 
getting the screws, sorted by size took a while.
I told her, I would try, and wouldn't give her a time frame, or firm price.
I spent a whole winter, doing it in my spare time.
I got it working. I couldn't charge for the time it took me, but it was a 
learning experience. There was a lot of trial and error.
I hadn't been working on players that long. It would not take me as long 
now.
Wait a minute, that is a lie. I wouldn't accept the job to do now. :-)
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hechler Family" <dahechler@charter.net>
To: "pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 3:47 PM
Subject: Pulling my hair out (what's left of it anyway)


> Tuning 4 pianos in one day... thats nothing !
>
> I am working on, in the basement of my house, three, yes, three player 
> piano rebuilds at the same time. One I'm finishing up for delivery next 
> week. The second one came in last weekend, a Themodist reproducing player 
> piano and, last but not least, my own P.A. Starck. Not only am I doing the 
> complete player part but the piano actions as well.
>
> So I've got to keep track of all the separate parts and where I'm at on 
> each one. Thankfully, I decided to keep a note pad with each one.
>
> And just remembered, with the I'm doing next week, needed: a pin 
> treatment, setting and aligning new hammers, leveling keys, regulation and 
> tuning - then - ready to start reassembling the complete player action. 
> Normally not a big deal, however, on this one, the customer took 
> everything out before I got there to take reference pictures of where hose 
> and linkage connections were, now I've got to figure them out.
>
> Not really complaining, mind you, just trying to figure out where to start 
> today.
>
> BTW, we need more player techs. On the other hand, here, at least, I'm 
> getting all player tunings.
>
> Now to start ...... somewhere .......
>
> -- 
> Duaine Hechler
> Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ
> Tuning, Servicing & Rebuilding
> Associate Member of the Piano Technicians Guild
> Reed Organ Society Member
> St. Louis, MO 63034
> (314) 838-5587
> dahechler@charter.net
> www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com
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