In a message dated 10/7/98 9:37:55 PM, you wrote: <<"She is a very pleasant young woman, so I hate to disappoint her, but I really don't want to see that piano ever again. But, being the glutton for punishment, I suppose I won't let her down (and will probably end up breaking three MORE strings! :-( Clyde Hollinger">> I would hate to think how may old player pianos I would have junked by now by passing them by because they broke a few Bass Strings! I think her piano is telling you that it needs a new set. So replace them! I always replace all strings in a old piano, for one, they are probably dead, secondly, I can also solve the problem of loose pins at the same time. This problem will only get worse as the years go by. materials do go bad. Most of the old pianos made in the teens already have 80% if the materials they were built from reach the end of their life. Rebuilding is in order. if you dont, the piano will aggravate you from the start and your work will never give you any satisfaction. As we are called to work on pianos that are becoming older every year, it gets worse. sooner or later, you will have to decide to rebuild the piano if the job is to be completed at all. This had caused some professional tuners to avoid old pianos. And the same tuners pine about "the good old pianos" they make a living on the awful Korean pianos that presents even more problems due to their inept designs(young-Chang comes to mind here) I think most tuners are reaching a turning point much like Player rebuilders reached in the 1970's where just sticking the player action back in there and tuning the piano just don't cut it anymore. the piano is too much of a wreck. As the years go by more and more pianos will become unserviceable and more will require rebuilding, player piano or otherwise. So we can either refuse these jobs and cause the pianos to be scrapped or we can roll up our sleeves and rebuild it. even if it takes more time, it is usually better to rebuild. This also includes the Lesser makes. NEVER make any remarks about how someone's piano is crap, even if it is. That is a sure-fire way to loose a job. later while your deep in the pianos innards, you just might find a way to improve it. some of these piano owners has had these old pianos for years, maybe it came from Grandma. everybody loved Grandma, and would like to keep the piano in the family.These people to me, are very desirable customers Just because a job is not easy doesn't mean it should be refused. That says something about the people doing it. Best Regards Andy & Chris Taylor "The Lone Arranger" Tempola Music Rolls "Taylor Made" Just For You http://home.swbell.net/tempola/index.htm
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