Piano Abuse

[Joe And Penny Goss]

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You are welcome <G>
Joe Goss
imatunr@srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Piannaman@aol.com=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 8:11 AM
  Subject: Piano Abuse


  It must have been a really sweet piano long ago, but now the 1890 S =
and S "A" sits forlornly at the Palo Alto Hills Country Club, looking =
out at the golf course from its spot in the west-facing-heat-collecting =
pictrue windows.  Only called upon to perform very occasionally, the =
soundboard is cracked in many places, dotted with cigarette ashes =
flicked into it when they piano was placed by the pool for an outdoor =
function, and wax from celebratory candles;  the tuning pins and coils =
have been coated with god-knows-how-many martinis, and many of the =
strings are adorned with a fine layer of rust.=20

  Put into this purgatory by a private donor long ago, if this piano =
were anything other than a Steinway, it would be ready for the glue =
heap.  One would think that in a country club where memberships cost =
well over 100K$, someone would recognize the potential value of =
something like this and pony up the money to have it re*******ed.  I =
have recommended this many times.  End of Rant.=20

  PAHCC modus operandi:  the night before an important performance(and =
sometimes the day of), the catering manager calls to have the piano =
"tuned".  I've been there before, and I was there again last night.  The =
first hour and a half was spent repairing broken things and doing enough =
regulation so that it was at least playable.  Two of the more rusted =
wires snapped as I tuned them despite dropping them in pitch before =
raising them a couple of cents.    =20

  When my work was finished, I played on it for while.  I'll be darned =
if it sound and played like a piano again!  There's still a good heart =
in there!  =20

  The fortunate thing is that the function is tonight, and not last =
night!  Gives me a chance to go pull the new strings up and pickup my =
check(since anyone who could sign one had left long before my 8:45 PM =
departure time).=20

  It was one of those jobs where I should have charged by number of =
tools used; it took me forever just to put everything back into it's =
designated slot at the end of the night.=20

  There.  I feel better now.  Thanks for reading.=20

  Dave Stahl 
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