Plate Break after restringing-Preliminary report

[David ilvedson]

> From:          JIMRPT@aol.com
> Date:          Sun, 2 Nov 1997 14:29:36 -0500 (EST)
> To:            pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject:       Re:  Re: Plate Break after restringing-Preliminary report
> Reply-to:      pianotech@ptg.org

Jim,

A cracked plate is the only real serious problem I would be 
concerned about.  Broken plate bolts and all the other stuff you 
mentioned can be repaired with out any devaluing of the piano in 
the customers mind.  I will definitely add a simple disclaimer 
concerning the plate and the "unlikely possibility" of plate 
breakage during the restringing process...besides if I drop the 
plate and it cracks I'm off the hook...

David ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA












> -------DISCLAIMER----------
> List if I inadvertantly say something that you don't, won't, or can't agree
> with it is only due to the inaccuracies of the medium, the way you perceive
> words, or my total ignorance, and therefore is a condition beyond my control.
>  In no way will, or should, I be held responsible for things I say that do
> not agree with standard accepted procedures either on an individual basis or
> a trade wide basis.
> -----end of disclaimer---------
>   David, Bob, et al;
>   If your technician presented you with a quote for repair work that
> contained a similarly worded disclaimer pertaining to rebuilding/repair,
> ......would you allow them to touch your piano?  I don't believe I would !
>   We have a tendency to think of ourselves as the last 'correct' word on
> things technical. I include myself in this so calm down :-)   I submit that
> quite often are we not only.... not.... the last 'correct' word we are not
> really even sure what paragraph we are in.  This fantastic trade of ours is
> 90% perception and 10% good hard application of knowledge, or what passes for
> knowledge.  There are so many "acceptable answers" to most of the questions
> we run into every day that there may perhaps be no 'correct' answer that will
> fit even "most" situations.
>   To illustrate what I am speaking of let us consider the pinblock/plate
> flange fit matter.  There has been a comment on this list that if the plate
> flange fit was not solid that person would consider the fitter/rebuilder
> unqualified to work on pianos and would advise their customer against buying
> that instrument based soley on that criteria............Well the last S&S 'A'
> that I replaced the pinblock on had absolutely no contact between the plate
> flange and pinblock, absolutely no contact whatsoever at any point or in any
> way.  This piano was made in the heyday of S&S "golden years" when Old World
> Craftsmen were turning out instruments made in the best manner possible, when
> materials were abudant and time was used only to determine when to eat meals.
>  This piano served 4 generations of the same family and after this last
> rebuild will , and has now started, serving the fifth generation.  Currently
> held, popular, wisdom says that the tuning on this instrument was/should have
> been unstable due to the lack of good solid contact pinblock/plate flange.
>  Such just was not the case, but let us not allow this fact to interfere with
> what we 'know' to be the case for unstable tuning characteristics. 
>  As further illustration we hold that a piano 'must' have downbearing to
> properly transmit power to the sounboard conveniently forgetting that Sohmer,
> Mehlin, along with a few others showed that downbearing was not necessarily
> the only answer to this problem.
>   This all in a roundabout way of addressing putting disclaimers on our
> quotes/estimates/invoices.  There always have been risks of doing business
> and in making repairs to anything, pianos included.  If we include a
> disclaimer for everything that might possibly happen to an instrument in our
> care the discalimer lists would far surpass the length of our quotes.  We are
> responsible for due care and diligence in our work and in our possesion of
> our customers' property.  What we cannot, and should not expect ourselves to
> be able to do, is forsee all the problems that may not be expected in the
> course of our work. If we disclaim the possibilty of the plate being cracked
> during restring, what about the 5 plate bolts that snapped off while trying
> to remove them from the rim?  If we disclaim the plate bolts breaking, what
> about the bridge pins that split the bridge when we pull the new strings up
> to pitch.  If we disclaim the bridge pins, what about the hitch pins that
> pull out, or break,  as you put tension on the strings? (all these things
> have happened to me so I am not making things up for the sake of my
> position).
>    I suppose what I saying is we all "owe" our customers is complete honesty
> and the use of our experience and knowledge and that is all.  We do not owe
> our customers, or ourselves, a sidestepping of responsibility for due care
> and diligence through the use of numerous disclaimers.  When you take your
> automobile to be repaired you allow the shop a 10% overage in their estimate
> without contacting you (in Florida), why should we do differently?  The
> doctor, lawyer, and indian chief don't disclaim their practices other than
> due care and diligence through accepted practices, why should we ?   I
> further suppose that what I am saying is that when I reach the point where I
> feel a disclaimer to cover all circumstances is needed to continue in this
> profession I love so much that I will get out of the business and start
> writing disclaimers for those souls who stay in.
> Just another way of looking at it.  :-)
> Jim Bryant (FL)
> 
>