>...This reminds me of the "fixer upper" horse trailer I bought for $300. Two >years and $3000 later, I sold it for $500, then went and bought a new one >for $5000. Smartest thing I could have done, but wished I'd done it 2 years >and $3000 earler. This doesn't work. Buying something new is not comparable to rebuilding somethine old. You just made a decision, that from your own description, turned out to be unfavorable. Though I suspect you *did* get some definite use from the "fixer upper' horse trailer long enough until *you* decided you wanted something different, not until someone else decided for you. >OK, fine, maybe the owner of the piano doesn't care and can't tell the >difference. Then you should turn the job over to a technician that doesn't >care and can't tell the difference! While you're certainly welcome to your viewpoint, it appears you are taking issue with the posters who endorse carefully evaluating the current action parts, and not necessarily the intent of the subject of the same posters. No one has mentioned any objections to the replacement of parts that are beyond their usefulness, but only objections to an overall endorsement of such an activity without careful consideration to the circumstances involved in each particular situation. The approach Susan mentioned is one very viable way of ascertaining whether reconditioning would provide some excellent response from the existing action parts, or it could equally demonstrate that replacement would be the better route to travel. I currently have a 1925 M that is terrific in touch and tone for our application, and this is after reconditioning the action parts and treating the verdigris with Protek and my particular method of madness. If someone came along and purported that the action parts needed replacement without offering significant reasons why what I currently have isn't satisfactory, I'd be hard pressed to believe their credibility. There have been marvelous results with the replacement of action parts by knowledgable persons in many pianos, but I have witnessed some real travesty with the replacement of original parts that were in remarkable shape by new ones that were not near the caliber of quality. There are more than two sides to a coin, and it is the edge we would all do well to keep in mind. I *have* enjoyed the responses on this thread. >Regards >David McCord Sincerely, Keith McGavern kam544@earthlink.net Registered Piano Technician Oklahoma Chapter 731 Piano Technicians Guild USA
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC