Treasures in pianos

[AlliedPianoCraft]

This happened to me many years ago when I was doing work for a big dealer in NYC. They purchased a vertical piano. After about 6 months the complained about a buzz in the piano. I was asked to go and check it out. I played the piano and it sounded like it had loose ribs. Terrible buzz. I pulled the piano away from the wall to check the soundboard. Sitting on the bottom brace was a bottle of Rye & and a bottle of Ginger Ale. While pulling it out from the back of the piano, I said, "I found your problem" showing him the bottle of Rye. In the most defensive voice I have ever heard, "That's not my problem, that's not my problem" I did all I can do to keep from rolling on the floor. He asked if I could keep it between us. Why not! That customer will never call again with a complaint!

Al Guecia

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robin Blankenship 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:34 PM
  Subject: Re: Treasures in pianos


  Things found by myself in pianos include:
  a shiny new 1918 U.S. Quarter
  an unfired .357 magnum round
  live mice, with nest
  pre-Civil War  dust, undisturbed
  part of a mid-1860's German postcard, used to shim the pinblock
  about an entire bushel of dead roaches, plus their "stuff" so encrusting the action that it was utterly unusable at that time ( I did manage to salvage it)
  regurgitated cream soda float
  various snake skins
  blood splatters from wounded Union soldiers
  USED condoms
  a large number of opportunities to do heroic pitch raises


  I'm still looking for the matching $140,000 in cash that was discovered inside an old upright by a tech up in Minnesota about 18 years ago.....

  Keeps one guessing, though!!!

  Robin Blankenship
  Matoaca, Virginia

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Israel Stein 
    To: pianotech at ptg.org 
    Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:47 AM
    Subject: Treasures in pianos


    At 06:28 AM 2/28/2008, Paul T. Williams wrote:



      The coolest things I found in a piano was a 1905 Canadian penny (big like a 50 cent piece and brass, I think) and a liberty dime.  pw 

    Then there are the tear-jerkers. One time inside an old upright belonging to an elderly lady I found an old photograph of a beautiful young woman (obviously herself years ago) with a man who appeared to be a "significant other". Or perhaps the "love interest of the moment"? Who knows. But she became visibly emotional when she saw it... 

    Sometimes the tears (of frustration?) are mine.There's the Stieff grand that I couldn't get the action out of for a long time - it just wouldn't move. I don't remember how I finally got it out - but it turned out that someone dropped a bunch of saltwater taffy into the keybed (in the treble, where there is a space between the strings and the rim). It melted and glued the keyframe to the keybed... Took a long time to scrape it all off..  

    Israel Stein 


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