Piano evaluation proposal

[Farrell]

Oh, I pretty much agree with you in principle James. But there are 
situations where grandma's piano will be the only piano in the house, the 
owners want a high performance piano, and they are willing to spend money. 
In such a situation, all can be winners. Keep in mind also, that I am 
talking about using the rim (with modifications) and plate (with 
modifications) and action (with modifications) to basically build a new 
piano. So I would be willing to argue the point that the experience of 
tuning a 90 year old K&B doesn't say much regarding what one could do with 
such a salvage instrument.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
> Having tuned many of these (everyone's favorites) the old K&Bs are best 
> left to rot.  Anyone putting $30K into one has got to be nuts.
> James
> James Grebe

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> This sounds like a potential fabulous opportunity for a rebuilder. The K&B 
> are generally well-built pianos. 1912 should have metal action brackets - 
> but yes, the actions do have weird parts - the action will be more 
> expensive to properly rebuild than normal - either need to use custom 
> parts, or convert to more traditional action.
>
> The owners obviously know it needs rebuilding - they may not be aware of 
> the full extent needed, but they clearly appear to be half-way there. The 
> piano is obviously a family heirloom - no other piano is going to work in 
> quite the same way.
>
> Such a small piano is potentially a prime candidate for belly design 
> improvements (need to evaluate rim, framing, plate, etc to determine what 
> exactly can be done with it). IMHO, assuming the thing needs a new 
> soundboard, I would just recommend a full remanufacture with a redesigned 
> belly (assuming plate, etc. allows proper redesign) and tell 'em you (or 
> whomever) can make the piano sound and play better than any new small 
> grand for $30 to $35K and see then where the family heirloom thing pushes 
> them.
>
> Hey, if you are not interested, I'd jump at an opportunity like this!
>
> Terry Farrell
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  I got this e-mail today. Should I tell them what I "think" I should?
>
>  I don't want to deal with it at all but if it might be worth it, I
>  could refer it to someone else here.
>
>  Isn't this the brand, Conrad, that you made a planter out of? :-D Or
>  am I thinking of something else?
>
>  Comments?
>
>  Avery Todd
>  University of Houston
>
>
>    The piano is a 1912 Kranich & Bach 5'4" baby grand that has been in
>    the family since the 1930s. It has been primarily a furniture piece
>    for the past 25 years and probably hasn't been tuned in nearly that
>    time. There are a few dead keys. It has been in a climate controlled
>    home in Houston for over 40 years.  There is no water damage or major
>    structural compromise that we are aware of.
>
>    We anticipate some reconditioning will be necessary and possibly even
>    partial rebuilding.
>
>    We are contemplating the addition of a PianoDisc or similar system to
>    allow for recording and playback.
>