Dear James: How do you design the replacement bench bottom? Would be very interested to see a post on this facet of your business. Dan Hallett, Jr. RPT pianoman wrote: > > Hi Susan and all, > Your good article brought out several things that have been problems for > all of us. Consider case parts removed. There is no best place. If you > lean them they can fall, if you lay them on the floor they can scratch the > floor but also someone can trip over them. If you lay them on a couch will > the client like that? I have one client that makes sure I put the music > desk of her Yamaha on a rug not her marble floor. > On the subject of taking off shoes: I am not the most graceful person in > the world and I don't know about you, but it is slippery in your socking > feet, downright dangerous. On holes in socks, I try to be as careful as I > can, as that is why I only purchase black socks. I never have to worry > about matching them in the drawer, I just dump-em-in. The other thing is > maybe some of you did a lot of barefooting when you were younger. I > didn't. I hardly ever go barefoot at home even in the bedroom. Another > thing is that I find it painful to try to depress the pedals to use them or > test them out. This doesn't even approach the problem of removing an > action and keybed on the slippery floor. > I asked one of my (Asian) used to be Oriental, clients what was the > objection to Oriental and why Asian was preferred. She really didn't have > a good answer in my opinion for that. I do not use "Oriental" in a > derogatory manner but I can't really tell the difference between Korean, > Japanese, or Chinese. Is that bad? To me Asian should refer to the > continent and the countries that make it up including India, Pakistan and , > others. Supposedly one of the complaints other countries have is that on > American maps, North America is in the center and the rest of the world is > equally divided right and left. I can understand that some. But then I > asked one of these people how the maps looked in their country and they > informed me that their continent was in the middle and the rest of the > world equally on each side. If that is true, so what. > On benches, one of the first things I do is feel down and see if the bottom > is secure on what I am sitting on. I do this for a couple of reasons. I > have a side business of bench repair and building and have found that much > of the rigidity of the bench comes from a secure bottom. When it is loose > it puts all the pressure on the leg glue joints and corner brackets. > Tomorrow I am taking my second new piano bench bottom replacement back to > the client. I install a new plywood bottom that I glue, brad, and screw > in place. I guarantee it for the length of my life. I have gotten quite > good at this repair and can do it in just about 30 minutes. I charge $ 75 > for it and can do it in just about 30 minutes in the shop. That makes $150 > extra this week above tuning and it adds up over a period of time and gives > me play time with my tools and wood along with making a stronger bench and > usable again for music storage. If other parts of the bench are broken, it > just adds up the total to repair. To me this is just as good as installing > Damp-Chasers money wise and I enjoy the work. Any other thoughts on the > socking feet slippery problem? Sorry to have rambled. > James Grebe > R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth > Piano Service and Piano Periperals > Creator of Hardwood PLTR's and Custom Piano Benches > pianoman@inlink.com If I wake up in the morning, it WILL be a great > day! minute in the shop
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