Hurricane Andrew piano?

[Tom Servinsky]

Hi Phil,
Being on the east coast, we got flooded, no pun intended, with Hurricane
Andrew pianos. There was a large outfit out of Miami..won't mention any
names, who did quite a bit of those jobs. Most should have gone straight to
the dump..
I still continually see the remnants of these instruments and find mold
actually growing on action parts and the such.  Usually a funky odor also
accompanies the mold.
Case parts not fitting, keybeds warp, and rim lamination separating are some
of the common problems. The most obvious is the action plays like a truck
and sound is extremely soft and mushy.
But check for the mold on parts which aren't handled much, say the
underneath of keys.
Tom Servinsky,RPT

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Bondi" <tito@PhilBondi.com>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 8:17 AM
Subject: Hurricane Andrew piano?


> Good morning.
>
> I have heard of this type of instrument being sold to the general public,
> and I think I just came across my first one, and it's in a restaurant
where
> a player who I respect is playing on 4 nights a week( i feel real bad for
> him). Here are the facts, and this is in NO WAY a knock on the
> manufacturer..it's more me venting which appears to be deception to the
> general public:
>
> -Yamaha 86 note piano with a 85 note keyboard.
> -A key frame that will not seat to the keybed(I wonder why).
> -It's a 2-pedal arrangement on the pedal lyre, and there's alot of slop
with
> the damper pedal, and the una corda doesn't move the keyframe(I wonder
why).
> -It's been re-strung and the case was re-finished..but I can not find a
> model or a serial# anywhere on this instrument. It has the markings of
> Yamaha, but no indication of what vintage it is.
> -It plays like a bag of marshmellows..how do I know? I recently was called
> to do some work on it and I played 4 hrs. on it last night subbing for the
> regular guy..now, my chops are rusty i admit, but I know gosh darn well
what
> the guts look like, and it's not pretty.
>
> There's a few of you from the East Coast who monitor and contribute to
this
> forum. Have any of you come across such an animal?
> Have you heard of the "Hurricane Andrew" vintage instruments?
> Is there any recourse for the restaurant(they don't have any idea what a
> mess this thing is)?
>
> my hands hurt,
> roo(k)
>
>
>
>
>