Last Hurrah?/ broken strings

[Farrell]

Who did you direct this message to? I'll answer anyway! Comments
interspersed below:

----- Original Message -----
From: <Yardarm103669107@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 8:35 PM
Subject: Re: Last Hurrah?/ broken strings


> I'm up for it. No racing though. I spent ten years racing, and I'm done
with
> it. Cruising only.

Amen. I never did race, but I never wanted to!

> What body of water are you on?

Tampa Bay/Gulf of Mexico, about 250 miles N of Key West - for the last 11
years.

>  I'm on Lake Michigan out of
> Chicago.

Prior to that, Lake St. Clair outside of Detroit. Used to sail up through
the North Channel of Lake Huron most summers. I miss it.

> The boat is a 25 year old French built racer/cruiser 28' with a deep
> water keel. You can always tell the French boats: they have built-in wine
> racks. Who's sailing on what over there?

Folkboat. Built in Sweden in 1963. Mahogany on oak. Beautiful sailer.

> Actually, to keep the topic to pianos, it's no joke that you have to tune
a
> boat. Also, think about the shape of a sail such as the main, and the
points
> at which it is held, and the most desirable shapes for it in a wind; does
it
> remind you of a soundboard? Battens (ribs) and all?

On December 16, 1997 (Beethovan's Birthday) I got my first idea to explore
going into the piano technician profession. The piano tuner had just tuned
our new piano that afternoon and I was looking for a change in jobs. I had
rebuilt several wooden sailboats over the years. That night it occurred to
me: "Hey, you know, pianos are a lot like sailboats......made of wood and
metal.......beautiful mahogany finishes......many are very old.......they
hang around for a long time........designs have not changed radically for
many decades.......they need to be tuned.......they don't just sit there
like a table - they are used - they are alive........AND (perhaps the most
important) the insides (think about an old upright) kinda smell like the
great bilge smell of an old wooden sailboat!

So if I had not had many years of pleasure working on wooden sailboats, I
would likely never have gotten into this profession!

Only bad thing is now I am so busy with pianos, my sailboat sits in my
backyard badly in need of some rib replacements, a new cockpit, etc. No time
to do it!!!

> Paul Revenko-Jones

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com