That's right Rob. I was going to jump all over Joe Garrett for saying: "Other suggestion: leave the sentimentality out of it, if at all possible. End comment: when is it completely re-whatevered, it will still be a mediocre, non-descript, pyaner." Your statement of investing $10K to produce a $3K Piano was an excellent way to convey to the owner restoration costs and end result. I take a similar approach all the time. However, when the piano owner tells me that "this was grandma's piano, I learned to play on it, this is the only piano that will be in this home - and I want it to look, play and sound like new", then it is a whole different ballgame. Again, even if someone accepts this approach, the norm is to recommend minimizing investment because of "what the piano is". Let's consider complete redesign and remanufacture of the piano with a Del Fandrich or Ron Nossaman designed belly system. Such a job, along with a new balanced action will require an investment of at least $20K and more like $30+K. And of course many (most) will say that is crazy to put that kind of money into a Haynes piano. "Only a Steinway or Mason and Hamlin is worthy of that kind of treatment/investment". But one has to realize that we have abandoned the investment value thing here. The customer wants a NEW piano. The only thing to really decide is whether she wants something comparable to a new Chinese piano or something very high end. If the owner wants to go high end, then consider redesign and remanufacture. Doing that level of work works out some bugs on a quality piano like a S&S or a M&H. But that level of work can TRANSFORM the lesser piano like the Haynes. Now before one jumps into such work, the rebuilder has to evaluate the piano to see whether it is a reasonable candidate for redesign/ remanufacture. What I mean by that is to examine the rim - is it only a half-inch thick and made of softwood - or is it a decent hardwood rim. What kind of bracing does the rim have (can always add bracing)? How 'bout the plate - will its shape allow reasonable placement of the bass bridge (move it forward for adequate bass backscale)? Is the strip of plate between the bass and the low tenor wide/strong enough to allow some grinding that may be needed to optimize low tenor bridge shape and bass bridge placement? Etc., etc., etc. - Does the basic frame/plate structure of the piano provide an adequate something for the designer to work with. Some pianos provide a better basic structure to work with than others. I don't understand why rebuilders conclude that: "yeah, I've played/ serviced a number of Haynes (or whatever brand) pianos (80+ years old, of course) and none of them seemed like much of a piano (daaaa) - so even if you 'rebuild' it, it'll just be a little bit better (or less bad). M&H and S&S do not have some excellent playing and sounding pianos because of the name on the fallboard - it's because they are designed well and built well (wow, did I say that?). YOU can do a similar thing to Brand X often. Just something to think about. Terry Farrell On Sep 12, 2009, at 2:39 AM, Rob McCall wrote: > Thanks Joe and Wim, > > This piano says "Haynes" on the fallboard so I'm guessing it was an > attempt to capitalize on the Haines Bros. name. I mentioned to the > owner that they could have a $2,000 piano right now, they could > invest $5-10K in it and end up with a $3,000 piano. She said, "I > don't care. I don't want a new piano, this one means too much to me." > > I know Joe said to leave the emotion out of it, and generally I > think that's a good idea, but when the emotional bond runs this deep > and they're well informed as to the costs and end values, I'm > inclined to do it for them. > > Which brings to mind another question. She had asked if she could > help with some of the work. Pulling out tuning pins, strings, etc. I > know she's not afraid of doing grunt labor... > > What is everyone's thought on that? Would you cut some of the labor > cost of rebuilding for the owner's sweat equity? Does this open > other issues I can't think of right now? > > She doesn't want to work on any of the technical stuff, action, > etc., she just wants to get her hands dirty and help. BTW, she > helps rebuild engines for dragsters with her husband so she has some > skills... :-) > > Regards, > > Rob McCall > Murrieta, CA > > On Sep 11, 2009, at 11:14 , wimblees at aol.com wrote: > >> Rob >> >> I rebuilt a Haines Bros. a couple of decades ago. It was eventually >> bought by a local theater company who used it in their rehearsal >> studio. It wasn't the greatest instrument I had ever done, but it >> held up nice, and served it's purpose. >> >> Rebuilding a piano like this is not worth what it could possibly >> bring on the open market. But in this case, if the customer has >> strong sentimental attachments to it, as long as she understands >> that for the same amount of money she can buy a brand new >> instrument in much better condition, go ahead and give her a >> proposal to do the work. >> >> Wim >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090912/44b906af/attachment-0001.htm>
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