Jaurez Cosmetic piano restoration

Ryan Sowers pianorye@yahoo.com
Wed, 25 Aug 2004 23:14:34 -0700 (PDT)


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Sounds a lot like a piano a client bought from a "rebuilding" outfit out of Kentucky. The folks spent about $18,000 on an old S&S model "O". What a mess! Damper wire screws stripped out, bad shim work, action played like a truck, and this one had a really mediocre finish job to boot! These people also bought the piano off of ebay! 
 
We just have to keep getting the word out to the public about the hazards of bargain rebuilds.
 
Erwinspiano@aol.com wrote:
    To All my esteemed colleagues
    Probably all of you are aware of a rebuilding outfit across the border in Juarez, Mexico.
  I've seen two recently "rebuilt" Stwys that were a disaster with one exception.
    The first was a 1908 A-2 in ebony. Standard case Round style front. The best part of the job was the finish work. I've seen plenty & this & 'twas quite nice & the satin rubout excellent. The  plate finish was fair. New block of some sort but the string job was poor. Poor coils & not pulled up.
   The sound board was a literal venetian blind of shims that were installed to look cosmetically nice from the top but it was literally the worst I've ever seen. Horrible board discoloration & of course the shims all those shims sticking thru. Crown? Bearing? yeah,uh huh
   Bridges toasted of course.
  The action once again had the ever ineffective Renner 15.5 mm knuckle shank placement & the ever heavy  
un-prepared & bored wrong hammers (not Renners fault). It Needs new keys. 
The  Regulation poor, tone poor
 etc etc etc.........
 The very nice gentelman that purchased it for 33k was looking for his last & dream piano. Bad dream
 I value it maybe 12 to 15K. The restoration estimate 24K
  
 
   The other was a 1906 O. Once again nice satin Mahogany finish.  The top treble rib was broken & hanging down. The rest of the scenario is, second verse same as the first. Value 8 k She paid 15,000 & not stung as bad. But now she's stuck with a loss or spending  the cash to get the real deal.
     All the action cleats were loose & the action was rattling around. Hammers bored too short by over 1/8. One cleat was replaced it was so split it was unusable & the sos spring screw holes were so stripped the sos was floating around & causing notes to stay open. The block so split I replaced it. The "new " pinblock was sitting 1/8th inch off the treble shelf. 
   I was just giving her a band aid with the 17K estimate.
   The moral of the story is don't shop on e-bay & no there really aren't any totally rebuilt stwys for sale in that price range.
  This gal ignored good advice (mine) before she purchased it & then expected a stamp of approval when she called. I was nice but bad news is just that.
  This is just another business scam in different clothes. Dress it up and sell it is the name of this dealer game & if I sound annoyed well.... I hope this helps someone out there. Pass this E-mail  to the client who is looking at one of these rip offs.
  So to ya'all buyer beware & you heard it here first.
   Regards & Blessings
   Dale Erwin
 


Ryan Sowers, RPT  Puget Sound Chapter
Pianova Piano Service
Olympia, WA
		
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