moving in on the ivory towers,(wasmoney)

[A440A@aol.com]

Roger writes:
<< With our 20- 30yr old inventory the
crunch is coming. One or two restrung and rehammer pianos per year is a spit 
in the Ocean.>>

Greetings, 
   It sounds like you have a young inventory!  
     When Vanderbilt absorbed us(The Blair School, 1980), our pianos were a 
clutch of pre 1940 Steinway wrecks that had been donated, and a rash of mid 
1960 B's,(poorest actions I have ever seen).  The worst of them were rebuilt 
by myself in the early 1980's.  Rebushing FLANGES, installing knuckles, 
dampers, lotta soundboard repair, I didn't know enough at the time to pay 
attention to bridge pinning,etc.  One board has over 40 ft. of shim and a 
replaced plank under the bass bridge, (it wasn't easy to find a board 
replacer in 1984).  This one is in the studio of a senior piano faculty 
member, no rattles, good bearing and sound, and he loves the piano.    The 
actions were done with Tokiwa and Imadagawa ,as well as some STeinway parts.  
    I charged too little and took way too long on all of these pianos, being 
fresh out of school and wanting them all to be "Garlick-like" museum pieces, 
but now I find that in most cases, these are still the preferred pianos, even 
side by side with the six new Steinways we just purchased this year!   They 
have been used hard, shaped and regulated several times over the last 20 
years and now are still performing well.  
    I took great care with these pianos, since I counted on living with them 
for some time, and the extra effort has paid off.  I can now point out the 
lifespan of most any piano work that I propose and it makes sense to the 
decision makers. The $300 key bushing job doesn't seem so extravagent if only 
done every 15 years, concert hammers can  go 3 or 4 years, but then, the 
fifth is getting a little thin, etc
      Writing and teaching a couple of courses moved me to adjunct faculty, 
which is a worthwhile thing, since I get full library and research 
assistance, as well as access to resources throughout the Vanderbilt 
system,(PR help, etc).    The temperament CD's that I am involved with are 
the equivalent to being "published" so I got at least nodding acceptance from 
faculty other than the piano department.  A major benifit is that everybody 
is afraid to have me on their committee so I get to miss all the paperwork 
and meetings.  (The world seems to think piano techs are a little nutty, so 
the trick is to make it work for you!)  
     I think CAUT's would do well to help one another find a way to get SOME 
faculty status,  it sure can make a big difference in your credibility with 
strangers as well as offering a strong venue for networking.   Teaching a 
course for students is the fastest way, and there have been several 
approaches taken amongst us.  I haven't really refined my classes, though I 
think I will try to reactivate them next year.  Anybody doing something 
exciting in this direction? 
Regards, 
Ed Foote 
Vanderbilt