The bottom line is: Is the customer willing to pay for the work to be done? Two examples. Yesterday I looked at a 30 year old Howard spinet. Rusty strings,?all the hammers felts have come loose from the moldings, and the rubber grommets?are all hard. I quoted the lady $500 for the?work, and told her flat out it wasn't worth doing. But the piano belongs to her mother, who is having an 80th birthday party in a couple of weeks, and wants the piano to play. It was bought by the mother's husband when they first got married. I'm working on the action this weekend, and returning on Tuesday to put it together and tuning it. ? Another case was 20 years ago. A Brambach 4'10" grand that needed a new pin?block and refinished. The cost of doing it was three times the value. To me the piano sounded blah. but the customer?said it was the best playing and sounding?piano he had ever encountered.?No sentiments, he just thought it was a great piano, and worth investing money into. One of the things I?found when it was torn down was that the plate had cracked at the bass/tenor break, and had been epoxy welded. Not a great job, but it held. If you explain in dollars and cents why it shouldn't be done, but the customer insists, for what ever reason, to have the work done, do the best you can do, and reap the benefits.? Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician Mililani, Oahu, HI 808-349-2943 Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com -----Original Message----- From: David Stocker <firtreepiano at hotmail.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Sat, Sep 12, 2009 5:33 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] Haynes baby grand I talk to several people in similar situations every year. I always boil the conversation to this question:? ? Would you, under any circumstances, get rid of this piano?? ? If the answer is yes, we can talk about what they want to own, is the piano or would another do better.? ? If the answer is no, if they want it to play, the cost and eventual value are part of the discussion, but hardly matter.? ? If it is not a top name instrument (Steinway, M & H, etc.) I would also say that the name doesn't matter much at all, the present condition of the piano is all that counts.? ? Dave Stocker, RPT? Tumwater, WA? ? --------------------------------------------------? From: "Rob McCall" <rob at mccallpiano.com>? Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 23:39? To: <pianotech at ptg.org>? Subject: Re: [pianotech] Haynes baby grand? ? > 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/20090912/0144e819/attachment-0001.htm>
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