[pianotech] "interesting" pianos

[Ron Nossaman]

I revisited a classic situation yesterday, with a new customer. She had 
been wanting a piano for some time, and one day the planets aligned and 
the husband found a "good deal" on a Young Chang grand at a music store 
and bought it for her without bothering to include her in the decision. 
We talked while I repinned a couple of hammer flanges she had indicated 
(sticking keys), and she told me all about how they had taken the 
soundboard back to the shop to work on something. Well, no, maybe the 
action, though the regulation was so terrible the thing barely played. 
So I tuned it, cautioned that we would likely be repinning the whole 
action before long, and that it was badly in need of regulation when we 
did. No emergency, but it will need to be addressed eventually, and 
sooner than they'd like. This happens too often - everywhere. Since the 
buyer got such a "good deal", whatever it was, it's unlikely he'll 
gracefully accept any need to make the piano actually work, especially 
for what it will cost to do it. After all, all the keys work fine.
Ron N