Bad Rap

[Farrell]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
I got a little lesson recently on how a piano technician's reputation =
can be affected by inaccurate reports from a piano owner.

I went to a new customer's home to give recommendations and an estimate =
to repair/improve an old small cheap grand. She mentioned that it hadn't =
sounded good since Mr. So-And-So worked on it a year or so ago. I asked =
her what Mr. So-And-So had done to the piano. She mentioned something =
with the action and he replaced some strings. She was not happy with the =
work. She said she would never let Mr. So-And-So back in her home.

Well, the action was 75 years old, very worn, deeply grooved hammers, =
sharps disappearing below the naturals, many notes not even going =
through let-off, etc. I noticed that there was a new-looking set of =
let-off buttons installed on the action. The original strings were =
rusty, so it was easy to spot the two newer replaced strings. The pins =
were high, the coil spread out down to the plate, and one coil was even =
installed BACKWARDS (as in coiled the wrong way)!

I know Mr. So-And-So from our local PTG chapter. I have had several =
professional interactions with him (including taking a grand regulation =
class from him at a PTG convention). I have visited his shop (where he =
was converting a Collard & Collard single escapement action to a modern =
action). He gives at least one or two excellent technicals at the local =
PTG chapter meetings every year. This guy has 20 years of top-notch =
experience. He teaches regularly at PTG conventions. He is a nice =
helpful guy. He has an impeccable top reputation in the PTG. He is the =
main technician at the most reputable dealership in the local area. He =
is smart. He is conscientious. Clearly, this guy is an excellent =
technician.

I know that there is no way that he had control of a situation where he =
would have installed let-off buttons without doing the rest of the =
action (maybe owner only let him do the buttons - who knows?). No way in =
heck did he install a string with a sloppy coil. No chance in Hades that =
he installed a string with a reversed coil.

Somehow, somewhere, this lady HAD to have gotten her story screwed up. =
No way did Mr. So-And-So do the nasty work that I saw. But if I didn't =
know this guy, I suppose I would have come away from that appointment =
with the opinion that Mr. So-And-So was a real sloppy, ignorant, rip-off =
artist, shmuck of a piano tooner.

A first-hand report like this should be accurate, but I think also, this =
is how nasty, inaccurate, career-damaging rumors can start.

Terry Farrell
---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/56/e9/27/52/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--