Piano moved in another room - bushings tight!

[pianolady50 at peoplepc.com]

Ahh, just change a few words here and there and...you obviously don't work
on player pianos!  I've often thought of auto mechanics while wrestling with
a rotary pump under a Duo-Art grand.  Then there's the lead dust from
deteriorating elbows, yummy :-)

Debbie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean May" <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 4:50 PM
Subject: RE: Piano moved in another room - bushings tight!


> >> And the conditions of the workplace!  No hot exhausts, no rust chips in
> my eyes, no 50K volt jolts from electronic ignitions, no grease that never
> comes completely out of your hands no matter how you scrub, no beat-up,
> bruised and scabbed hands, and no ice water dripping down your neck and
back
> while you work underneath in the winter time.  No bench-pressing a greasy
> transmission into position.  <<
>
> You left out the gasoline running down your arms into the armpits.
>
> Dean
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf
> Of John Dorr
> Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 4:10 PM
> To: piano tech list
> Subject: Re: Piano moved in another room - bushings tight!
>
> Hello list,
>
> This is the resolution of my post about the key bushings becoming tight on
a
>
> piano after it had been moved to another room and then moved back.  I
> rebushed
> 6 of them and the piano plays well again.
>
> Suggestions concerning humidity in the other room turned out to be right
on
> the money.  I asked the owner about that.  In fact, it wasn't moved to
> another
> "room" but rather to the porch OUTSIDE of the bedroom, and covered with a
> tarp!  Just at that point in time the weather here turned VERY rainy.  So
> that
> must've been a real steam bath underneath the tarp there, with the tarp
> holding IN condensation!
>
> While servicing this piano it occured to me again what a great business
this
>
> is!  When I contemplated entering this field some 5 or 6 years ago, an RPT
> buddy of mine in Denver, Randy Karasik, told me that I'd love it.  And I
do.
>
>  He knew me when I was an automobile mechanic, and said that the customers
> are
> SO DIFFERENT from what I was used to there.  As an auto mechanic, I was
> often
> distrusted until people got to know me.  And even then, people don't WANT
to
>
> give you money to work on their cars, they HAVE to, and they kind of
resent
> the expense.  Contrast that to piano owners who often LOOK FORWARD to
having
>
> their pianos improved!
>
> And gosh'a'mighty, I never had automotive customers bring me soda and
> cookies
> while I worked, like the lady did just now!  And it didn't stop there,
> either.
>  She remembered from when I gave her daughter piano lessons that sometimes
> I'd
> challenge the student to see who could play a particular piece better at
the
>
> next week's lesson.  (I'm a better teacher than a player.)  And we'd bet a
> candy bar on the outcome.  So they remember I like York peppermint patties
> and
> they just gave me a bag to go!  And that was IN ADDITION to putting a $10
> tip
> on the check.
>
> And the conditions of the workplace!  No hot exhausts, no rust chips in my
> eyes, no 50K volt jolts from electronic ignitions, no grease that never
> comes
> completely out of your hands no matter how you scrub, no beat-up, bruised
> and
> scabbed hands, and no ice water dripping down your neck and back while you
> work underneath in the winter time.  No bench-pressing a greasy
transmission
>
> into position.  And basically, just a WHOLE LOT LESS cussin' and fussin'.
>  Ahhh.  Did I mention I love this business?  I hope we never take it for
> granted what a wonderful and sometimes even lucrative trade we enjoy!
>
> Thanks for letting me vent that.  I was about to burst.
>
> Hope everybody made it back safe from the convention.  I'll be there next
> year.
>
> John Dorr
> Helena, MT
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>