Chickering-Brown advice

[Ron and Lorene Shiflet]

I've never worked on model of Chickering but after hearing the description, 
it reminds me of two pianos in different homes of my customers.  They were 
both made in the early 1800's.

The first time I saw one of these, the owner was complaining that her piano 
didn't work and she had spent a lot of money on getting it rebuilt.  It had 
been rebuilt by an RPT and didn't work well.  It also was of an earlier 
design and used different parts than today's pianos.  I took the information 
and called the piano technician  (out of state).  Eventually the technician 
remembered the piano and gave me some of the best advice I have ever heard. 
In essense she said:

These older pianos had designs that didn't work well.  That's why the new 
pianos have different parts and designs.  When dealing with an antique 
piano, sometimes you must add or subtract either parts or materials in order 
to get it working.

I took that advice and ended up selling the customer a new Charles Walter. 
She still has the antique but I had to educate her on why the new design was 
better.  I also never serviced that piano again.

The other customer was not in a position to get a better piano.  Every year, 
I just tuned it and kept it running mechanically the best I could.  They 
were pretty understanding.

just my 2 cents worth
Ron