Ah yes, the Knight-Brinkerhoff upright. That name brings memories to me. = I took piano lessons on one as a boy. About 1939 a man came to our town = with the piano on the back of a coupe car. He had a rack which cranked = down, letting the piano down to the ground. My mother gave the man $90 = for the piano. In 1951 I was drafted into the army because of the Korean War. While in = the army my mother sold the piano and at the time I couldn't care less. = Then when I entered the piano business I was curious about this piano. = One day back in this town my brother said he knew it's owner. As a boy I = was guilty of taking a beer can opener and prying off a corner of an = ivory head. Sure enough, there was the chipped ivory. The piano was dark = oak but by now someone had painted it with a tan paint. Ugg! It wasn't a = good piano, very bad crack in the bass bridge. Sy Zabrocki .. ---------- From: James Grebe[SMTP:pianoman@inlink.com] Sent: Sunday, May 04, 1997 8:54 AM To: pianotech@byu.edu Subject: used up pianos Dear List, Just Friday I tuned for a lady with an old Knight-Brinkerhoff upright.=20 When I was there about 2 years ago the piano was shot: loose pins, severely wobbling hammers, etc. It was so bad that I didn't even save = her 3X5 index card for my file and deleted her out of my computer.. Here = she calls and makes a tuning appointment with me on last Friday. When I got there the house looked a little familiar. Same problems except worse.=20 Nice house, nice neighborhood, nice lady, dead piano. I tuned it once again the best I could with pins that could not hold. I realized why I couldn't find her in my file of past customers. I went through the same litany as last time. Maam, you are wasting your money with lesson, and = you are in danger of poisoning your kids musical future. I talked for about = 10 minutes I'm sure saying the same things I told her last time. I realize now that I am not as good as a salesman (putting across a believable point) as I thought. I lost, she lost, her kid lost, but I = am still $60 richer. oh well. James Grebe from St. Louis pianoman@inlink.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC