John, I thought you might enjoy an experience of mine with a "mirror piano" which is included in TOONER TALES. Who Pays? An old tuner once told me, "If you ever have to tune a piano that has a mirror built into it, make the owner take it off and put it back on. If you break it, you'll have to pay for it." It sounded like good advice, if somewhat overcautious, so I filed it away in my memory banks. Years later, I went out to a farm near Estevan, Saskatchewan to tune my friend, Carl's piano. It had been cut down above the action brackets and boasted a long, narrow mirror all across the top. Carl was there, asking if he could help. Suddenly the old man's advice flashed across my mind. "Sure," I replied. "Take this mirror off." I said it sort of as a joke and told him what the old tuner had said. He grabbed one of my screwdrivers, turned the screws out of the rosettes, carefully removed the mirror and leaned it against the wall. I started in to tune the piano while Carl went outside to do some chores. When I finished, he came in to settle up. Still joking, I said, "Well, you might as well put that mirror back on." He reinstalled it nicely and we stood there a moment admiring the piano. Just then, Carl reached out with the screwdriver and gave one of the screws a wee snug of a turn. "BANG" went the mirror and the corner broke off. That was the end of the joking. I knew that, if I had done that, I would be buying him a new mirror. In my mind, I thanked that old tuner over and over again. Ken Burton "Doctor Piano" Calgary Alberta
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