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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you Kendall,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well now that we know how dangerous you are (and
that you have such illustrious beginnings, Charles Ball is one of the best and
brightest) let me recommend that you bite the bullet on the history (I'm
not sure that the bookkeeper forgot to send in the dues is a legitimate
excuse according to our bylaws & regulations) and rejoin PTG and take
the modern tests and become an active RPT. We need intelligent and
multi-talented folks like yourself in the organization. I think you will find
this to your advantage in the marketplace as we make further enroads marketing
the RPT.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BTW are you contracted or employed by a College or
University? While we encourage discussions of all types (and yours has been most
interesting) on the CAUT list, purely technical discussions are probably
best directed to the piano tech list.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chris Solliday RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lehigh University</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lafayette College</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>East Stroudsburg University</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kenbean@pacbell.net href="mailto:kenbean@pacbell.net">Kendall Ross
Bean</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">'College and University Technicians'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, July 10, 2008 7:09
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [CAUT] Tuning Pin Questions
- About me... Since you asked...</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Chris~</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Thanks for the compliment. Did you mean smart guy or wise guy?!! I
guess I put up a good front! Here's a <EM>little</EM> of the truth about
me:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Long story about PTG membership, but the gist of it is I joined back
around 1986 and passed the tests, and became a Registered Craftsman member or
RPT or RTT, (whatever they were calling it back then.)
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>I was a member for several years (Golden Gate California Chapter -Sid
Stone) but somehow at some point the paying of the dues got delegated to the
bookkeeper for our PianoFinders business, and unfortunately she didn't
understand the importance of paying the membership dues by the deadline.
As a result, my membership got dropped. We appealed, but at the time they
didn't accept our excuse. I just never got around to retaking the tests, or
rejoining, (and I was a bit peeved at their lack of sympathy for the
situation, I admit. I'm not going to mention any names...)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Currently Karen (my wife and partner in the business) has the
membership (she's an associate member) so that's how we are still associated
with PTG and how I still receive the PTJ. I really do enjoy reading the
articles in the <EM>Journal</EM>.</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>I also
especially enjoy reading the posts on the CAUT and pianotech listserves, and
how others solve the problems they encounter with pianos and
customers. Recently I felt a bit guilty about receiving all this
wonderful advice and knowledge and not giving anything back, so I decided to
start posting and at least pool my ignorance with the wisdom of others. ;-)
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Our business, PianoFinders, we started in 1982, when we returned
here to California from school at UT Austin in Texas (I was a piano
performance major there working on my Masters and Doctoral degrees. I knew
Charles Ball there, he was one of the folks who inspired me to get
started in piano technology...) ...By 1989 or 1990 we had a
fairly large rebuilding shop, several employees, a piano showroom, concert
hall, advice hotline, and learning center in Concord, California. (Mostly
learning center - We were the ones doing most of the learning!) (By the way, I
also happen to be a concert pianist, on the side...)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Around 1996 we closed the huge facility in order to have a life and
spend more time with our kids, who were in their teens and needed us more. We
decided to go virtual and network and now we have a web presence at <A
href="http://www.pianofinders.com"><FONT
color=#000000>www.pianofinders.com</FONT></A> . I still have a fair sized
rebuilding shop (attached to our home), with lots of nice power toys -oops, I
mean power tools, to play with, and we network with a number of different
rebuilding shops and technicians throughout the country. We have
gotten pianos in from, and shipped them out to, places all over the
U.S. (and sometimes various places in the world.) </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>I enjoy working on Steinways, Baldwins, Mason & Hamlins,
Chickerings, Yamahas, and Kawais, but also on Lesters, Conovers, Steinerts,
Wurlitzers, A.B.Chases, and (Chicago) Kimballs. (-mostly grands, with a
smattering of uprights.) I think they are all interesting, in one way or
another. I think a lot of the joy I find in my work is seeing how all the
different pianos were built, and trying to restore them to the way they were
originally (a challenge, when often they have been substantially modified or
altered by various people over time.) Every piano is like an
archeological dig for me - many layers. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>(I'm into history!) One of
the major aspects of our business is appraising pianos. We have evolved an
appraisal process over the 25 or so years we have been in business that we are
quite pleased with, or, at least, we think it is something to write home
about! I enjoy going out to people's homes and talking to them about
their pianos, and telling them about their pianos, (and often playing their
pianos after I appraise, tune, or service them.) I've seen just
about everything (or so I think, until the next appraisal or
tuning.)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Well, there it is in a nutshell. By the way, I'm still not that old
either (54 this year.) I don't really know about <EM>smart</EM> -- I
just know enough to be dangerous! </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Thanks for asking, (I realize this is probably a lot more than
you asked for... ...sorry...)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
size=2>~Kendall Ross Bean</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=629434808-10072008>
<DIV align=left>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=533361603-16112007>PianoFinders</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007><A
title=http://www.pianofinders.com
href="http://www.pianofinders.com/">www.pianofinders.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007>e-mail: <A
title=mailto:kenbean@pianofinders.com
href="mailto:kenbean@pianofinders.com">kenbean@pianofinders.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=533361603-16112007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=533361603-16112007><EM>Connecting Pianos and
People</EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Chris Solliday
[mailto:csolliday@rcn.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 09, 2008 5:42
PM<BR><B>To:</B> College and University Technicians<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:
[CAUT] Tuning Pin Questions - The truth about reverse thread;and Steinway
parts that "glow in the dark."<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Kendall,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You seem like a smart guy, are you a PTG member
yet?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chris Solliday RPT</FONT></DIV>
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