Do_It-Yourself Assistance?

[Susan Kline]

At 08:23 AM 2/11/99 -0800, you wrote:
>
>
>Robert Goodale wrote:
>
>> I came across a rather interesting old business card in a piano
>> today.  The card simply says "Piano Tuner".  The scarry part is
>> what comes next....
>>
>> * TUNING
>> * DO-IT-YOURSELF ASSISTANCE
>> * ONSIGHT REPAIRS
>> * ADJUSTING
>>
>> I'm not sure what "Do-It-Yourself Assistance" means but I'm
>> pretty certain I don't  want to find out.  I am assuming this
>> person is not a guild member.  <;-)
>>
>> Rob Goodale, RPT
>
>-------------------------------------------
>
>Rob,
>
>Why not?  And I would hope that he or she is a Guild member.  The chances of
>the "Piano Tuner" giving good and accurate advice and information would be
>improved somewhat.
>
>I've helped a number of talented -- and one or two not-so-talented --
amateurs
>repair their own pianos over the years.  Some have done well, others not.
>Usually, if the work did not come out well, I've then gotten the job of
fixing
>it right.  (They remembered me because I was the one that was kind to them
and
>didn't ridicule their efforts.)  If the job went well then the owner has this
>wonderful sense of accomplishment and ends up with a both a working piano and
>a much better understanding of what the instrument is all about.
>
>And I ended up with the fees I earned from consulting with him/her -- you do
>charge your normal hourly rates for consulting, don't you? -- and helping out
>over the really rough spots.  And I usually ended up with a tuning customer.
>
>Regards,
>
>Del
  ----------

Hi, Del!

Glad to know I have such illustrious company. This is what I was 
advocating in my article, "The Self-Reliant Owner". I'm working with
someone doing this now: they were half-way through working on a big
old upright, pretty case, badly damaged by rust, dampness, and time.
They were making a hash of it. They had acquired supplies but no 
information from a player piano supply. 

But they are determined, and not stupid. I showed them where they 
had gone wrong and how to remedy, I cut them action cloth for the 
stickers, the damper levers, and the little inserts under the butt 
leather. Also two sets of spring punchings. (The moths had eaten 
everything.) I pointed out that their (already glued on) bass damper 
wedges were about to fall apart, suggested  they take them apart 
and glue them in with the action in the piano. But I replaced a lot 
of ruined damper flanges myself, and I'll work with them on the 
regulation. I'll install the hammers myself.

The important thing, to my mind, is to understand and explain their
limitations to them, then give them good advice about everything else 
and let them have at it. I certainly wouldn't have had the patience
to replace every scrap of woven cloth and felt on that old hulk.

Regards,

Susan

P.S. "On Site" Repairs ..... well, he didn't claim to be an English
teacher.

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com