[pianotech] Appraisal

[David Boyce]

  I have to say I think Wim is right in saying
> I would suggest you NOT appraise this piano, because it will put you 
> in a precarious position.

What, exactly, are they asking you to appraise?  Are you to carry out a 
metallurgical assay of the ends of broken strings following 
microscopical examination? Have you got contacts at a university or 
metallurgical institute to make that happen?  How can you give an 
appraisal on just how and why strings have broken, after the event?

What is the point of any GENERAL kind of examination of the piano? Where 
will that get anyone?  Even if you discover evidence of, say, an acid 
spill over the agraffes where all the broken strings are, and that they 
all broke at the agraffes, how could you establish when the spill took 
place, and whether it actually contributed to the breakages?

And even if you wheel in the pianist, and get him/her to play in front 
of you, what are you willing to state, by way of opinion, about that 
person's playing?

The bottom line here, surely, is that the church is willing to pay you 
in hopes that what you say will help them to get money (or other value) 
from the dealer.  What if you discover that - in your view - the pianist 
is a thumper?

It's difficult to see how you can come well out of this by stepping in, 
for money, between a supplier and an unhappy customer.

Let us know what you decide and how it turns out!

Best regards,

David Boyce.




> My plan then is to call the gentleman back, and to stess that if I go 
> out there, that I am going, not to represent him or his case, but 
> merely to give a piano evaluation. If I find nothing particularly 
> wrong with the piano, then he wastes a hundred bucks. 
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