[pianotech] Mirror Piano

[pianolover 88]

It definitely reduces the value and they are also time consuming to service. Depending on the type of mirror and the person who did the cut down, sometimes just trying to remove it and other case parts so you can get to the tuning pins can be risky. I've seen many of these cut downs with cracks in the mirror, where its screwed on. The risks include breaking the glass further and/or cutting yourself! I always try to determine from callers, among other things, of they have one of these pianos. If they do, I usually pass and refer them to someone else.

Cheers, 


Terry "UniGeezer" Peterson
"Over 50, and not '2' Tired!" 
www.unigeezer.com


Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 09:29:19 -0400
From: noahfrere at gmail.com
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Mirror Piano

I told someone yesterday that the cut-off portion of an old Upright, where they added the mirror, did not degrade the structure of the piano. I still believe that, but I wanted to confirm it with others. She found this online, not I don't think to argue against my point, but just as an anecdote:


"During World War 2, American piano manufacturers ceased production to 
assist in the war effort. Rationing made it impossible to build a piano 
during those years, so piano tuners and rebuilders saw a golden 
opportunity to keep up with the public's demands by introducing the 
"mirror piano". They simply took a large old upright, often a gutted 
player piano, cut a step-shelf along the top, and secured a mirror 
across the exposed back so that the piano had the appearance of being 
smaller or more modern. These "re-styled" pianos became very popular 
during the war, and unfortunately this trend continued for another 30 
years. Hundreds of thousands of heirloom pianos were butchered during 
these years, and they are still commonly encountered. Because 
irreparable damage was done to the integrity of the instrument, mirror 
pianos are seldom worth more than a few hundred dollars at best." 

Are we all in agreement that the "irreparable damage" is cosmetic only?
 		 	   		  
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