teacher evaluations

[Farrell]

While I agree with most of what you state, there seems to be an implication 
that I was suggesting that a typical piano teacher can provide an adequate 
inspection of a used piano. I think if you read my post I basically say (or 
at least was trying to) that a piano teacher's opinion is better than 
nothing for the non-playing piano shopper, but in most situations, only an 
experienced piano technician can provide the most thorough evaluation of a 
used piano for purchase.

IMHO, "a little knowledge" is better than shopping blind, but not nearly as 
good as shopping fully informed.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
> I believe that the old saw "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"
> applies to teachers that attempt to evaluate pianos for students. If all
> the instruments are new--then the teacher's opinion may be helpful. If the
> instrument is used--all bets are off. I've had to be the messenger once 
> too
> often to ever suggest that a teacher evaluate a used instrumnet, unless a
> technician has looked it over first.
>
> The last such occurance was an ancient 60" tall monster with rocker arms
> and a linked action. The pin block came with both metal and leather shims
> around the rather rusty tuning pins. The bass bridge was split from end to
> end. There were plain steel strings among the wound ones. Some hammer
> flanges were so bad that if the sustain pedal was depressed a hammer might
> hit c or b or c#. (good instrument for "chance music"?) The white key tops
> had been replaced in such an manner that the black keys buried themselves
> just to make this gem shine. Did I mention the case was lovely? It was. Oh
> yes--that was the other good thing--the sustain pedal actually did work.
> The client paid about $800.00 US for it. I left a bill for a service
> call--and am still waiting to be paid.
>
> The teacher that approved of this instrument is quite excellent and has
> turned out many good pupils. The studio pianos are well maintained and
> serviced regularly.
>
> At 07:42 PM 2/1/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>>I would be willing to argue that a piano buyer who brings along their 
>>piano
>>teacher to evaluate a piano is not stupid. I think a qualified piano
>>technician could provide a much more thorough evaluation, but certainly 
>>any
>>experience piano player could provide a more informed opinion regarding a
>>piano's general condition than a non-player buyer.
>
>>Terry Farrell
> Regards,
> Don Rose