stumped

[Ron Nossaman]

Leslie Bartlett wrote:
> I tuned (no I really didn't) for "Dennis" today- and old Howard (sn 
> 220***- for which I didn't find a reasonable match in Pierce's). The 
> retired engineer had married a Russian lady, young enough to be his 
> daughter- and nicely I made that mistake.  Bass strings were dead, 
> multiple bridge cracks, the strings painted gold, several replaced, 
> about six pins in the center where a tiny amount of counterclockwise 
> pressure sent the string a half or whole tone flat. They also popped 
> loudly when they let loose- like Baldwin, only it was virtually no 
> useful tension on the pin.  There were a couple pins up around note 80 
> which were the same way.  Hammer 88 was within 1mm of having the  felt 
> open up at the bottom of the grooves on the flat-topped hammers.  
> Problem was, the man had bought this as a birthday present for this wife 
> who is a HIGH level concert player while she was out of the country.     
> I was there over four hours, so mad that they guy had gotten screwed (I 
> believe the damage was done before prior owner sold it to him- she 
> wasn't a player, so bought it mostly as furniture), and that I couldn't 
> make a decent tuning.  The Russian asked if I had ever tuned a piano 
> like this before……………………….       I pulled the action and went through 
> everything with him, and he seemed more than satisfied that little if 
> anything could be done- but the wife- I think she wanted me dead. 
> 
> When and HOW does one just give up on a POS when nothing works?  This 
> really bothered me.  I've tuned Howards before and hated them, but got 
> them tuned.  Nothing rendered decently, nothing stayed stable for me.  
> I've never had anything quite like this before, and hope I never do again.
> 
> They can't afford another piano, though their house was probably valued 
> at twice mine, and they had two rather new cars (Honda an Buick) I 
> think.      I'm coming off a week of three Houston Symphony Tunings, 
> another major Hall, two tunings of the most expensive piano in town, and 
> directing two performances of the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors.   
> I know I was tired………  But I had just done quite ok on a Petrof for one 
> of my really persnickety customers, so I haven't completely lost my 
> "tuning mind".  I'm mad they got screwed, mad she can't play musically 
> on this pos, but still feel somehow I should have been able to do 
> something to make it work.   Sorry to be kind of nuts here, but I'm 
> feeling kind of lost.
> 
> les bartlett
> 

It doesn't matter what they just did, or someone else just 
did, or what anyone's intentions and expectations may be. The 
bottom line is the current condition of the piano and what can 
be done with it at what price to meet performance 
expectations. That's it. It doesn't realistically get any more 
complicated than that without your sanction.

Case in point: Some months ago, I looked at a piano (Steinway 
L) that had been "rebuilt", but had a number of insupportable 
problems which prompted the call to me to look at it. I find 
touch weights in the mid 70s, and one of the more dramatic and 
extensive killer octave manifestation I've seen in all the 
years I've been in business. The soundboard is, of course, 
original and "repaired".

The plate seems to have been dipped in a glaringly copper 
colored goo, which is flaking off in large chunks. The 
thinnest loose chunk I found was 0.75mm thick.

Downbearing was from 1°+ in the tenor, to -2.5° in the high 
treble, with negative crown through the top half of the scale.

The pinblock was new, with new 3/0 pins! Why in the world 
would anyone put 3/0 pins in a new block???

Bottom line is that the money they spent on the previous 
rebuild was not only wasted, but actually did damage. This 
instrument is the source of evening therapy for the owner, and 
hasn't delivered anything but misery since it was "rebuilt". 
To finally get around to where this is going, I could have 
done a grand or two worth of regulation and voicing to try and 
minimize the wretchedness of this piano, but would have just 
further screwed the poor guy in doing so, in my estimation. 
Sure, I felt sorry for him, but there wasn't anything real I 
could do to help without buying the problem myself. So I did 
the hard thing and told and showed him (as I could) in painful 
detail what was done, what wasn't done, what should have 
minimally been done, and what was possible. He ultimately went 
for what was possible, and the piano came in today for a 
redesign and remanufacture. After all the misery, and all the 
money wasted, I hope and fully expect to supply him with a 
happy ending. I intend to give it my best shot.

So here's the deal. The situation that was set up before you 
became involved isn't your fault or problem. It's also not 
your problem to come up with a fix that's contrary to reality. 
If it takes doing over, that's what it takes. If the customer 
won't accept that, they are free to put themselves on the 
plate of the next bottom feeder in line. There are plenty to 
accommodate. Meanwhile, you maintain supportable standards and 
credibility, and minimize losing projects.

Ain't no free lunch.

Ron N