[CAUT] Junkers or Treasures

[dan l tassin]

Jeff,

Speaking of  "destroying"  an old upright  ( which MANY think they should
have disappeared with the Model - T Fords ),
GoTo :      www.PianoDesk.com
These guys are doing JUST that, but they KNOW the dangers of dismantling
an old upright and rebuilding them BACK into
what they are calling  Entertainment, or  Computer Desk.    It's really
neat.   I'm going to sell them ALL the old high uprights I have
so they can get rich off the  "junk"  I refuse to rebuild back into a
piano.    It's not easy doing what they are doing, but then again, it's
not real hard
either.   Most  "any" piano tech that's been in the business for some
years can do this, too.  But, you have to enjoy refinishing.
    I tell most customers that call me
with pianos like this in their living room that THIS is the best way to
get use out of an old  "Junker Clunker" that they don't want to
get rid of.    ALL the technicians across the country should be doing
this, too.   There are TOO many piano owners that think that old
Junkers are an  " Antique "  and should sound like a Steinway after a 
$50 dollar tuning.  [ NOT !!! ]  You won't believe how many  "dumb" 
people there still are out there in  "Grandma Land" that think  THIS  is
the piano we got for  "free"  that little Susie or Little Johnny
is going to play on and take piano lessons.    " But, we only want to see
if she/he has an interest in playing before we go out and buy
a better use piano for $100 bucks ! "      (  go figure ... )

Until ALL the world can get  RID of  ALL the old HIGH UPrights  and all
the Spinet pianos that are still out there in  " Repair - Land, "
we'll still have  "junk"  to work on, and I've  UP'd my prices 3 times as
much to work on them, or I don't want the job.   I'm tired of working
on  Junk Pianos !!!   I'm sure you, next door in the next state, are
TIRED of running into the same thing.     

Are there any other techs out there running into this,  
or do most of you College/Univ. techs (like me) stay away from work like
that and let the NEW Associates have it for fun and experience ??

Annon.  from down South ...



On Wednesday, January 5, 2005, at 03:11 PM, Erwinspiano@aol.com wrote:
 
> Yes a minimum wage worker can get an upright un -strung in 1 & 1/2 
> hours strings & pins removed & or just loosen the tension so it 
> doesn't explode when the post get removed.
 
 
Speaking of, I saw a program on the Discovery Channel a few weeks back 
where they disassembled what appeared to be a NEW (high polish ebony) 
vertical piano in order to convert it into some kind of wet bar.  I 
watched in horror as these improvement "EXPERTS" took the bolts out of 
the plate without letting down the tension.  They weren't even wearing 
safety glasses.  You can just imagine their conversations:
 
"Hey, I think I see how it works! It looks like you just take the bolts 
out of this harp thing and it will lean over and lift right out.  Hey, 
get me the electric screwdriver."
 
Meanwhile the guy on the other side is chopping into the soundboard and 
backposts with an axe.
 
Luckily, the plate still wouldn't come out.  They finally decided to 
take wire cutters and go along under the tuning pins cutting them all 
loose in just a minute or so.  I was glad to see them get that done 
before someone got hurt, but am still concerned that people around the 
country who saw the program might try to duplicate the project and not 
be as fortunate.
 
I wrote the show, but haven't heard back from them.
 
And why they didn't use an old upright with one of those beautiful 
cabinets which would have otherwise been bound for a junk yard is still 
baffling me.
 
Jeff
Jeff Tanner, RPT
School Of Music
University of South Carolina