Clunker pianos - what do you do?

[erwinspiano at aol.com]

  Good post Gerald's
  Michelle I didn't' say that I don't work on old uprights.  Out here in La La land we have this piano preserving climate. & many of these so called klunkers still have musical potential. We have seen clients spend real money on these pianos to partially or completely restore them. SO the moral of the story is don't tell the client what they want to do or spend but advise them wisely & ethically of the pros & cons of making such an investment. I have repeatedly made this mistake in my head only to prove that the client has there own thoughts & opinions.
 Ok now for the real shocker.....For years now I've had clients spend any where from a few thousand to many as much as 10K on up to 30 K to restore these beauty's & only 2 got soundboards. The go no go for me is does the soundboard have life left in it  as evidenced by the residual tone quality. I don't want to see real beaters restored but only the cream puffs that have lived here in Ca. I love the Victorian stuff. To me the primo uprights were made between 1890 & 1910 ish. Love the cases....unbelievable.
  Don't tell em what to spend......Yup, I catch on quick after a long time!!
  Dale



Michelle: The real world is that "klunkers" pay exactly the same as nice, fine, brand new Stienways Ds. You charge by the hour to work on pianos. It would be real nice if they were really nice pianos. Try to make every job a learning experience. Learn to fix what is wrong to the best ability of the piano. Basicly, make it play and tune it as best as it will tune and collect you fee and sell, sell, sell. You will find that you will make more money on the back end of a job if you learn to sell what needs to be done to improve the touch and tone of whatever quality piano you are working on. Learn and grow and one day when you are laid to rest they will say "Now there  was one fine piano technician". 

Gerald McCleaskey, RPT







Michelle:

I dearly love these old pianos, and so wish that they were preservable in some way within financial reason and the tolerance both of technicians and the owners of the pianos. Much of the time they're not. 

This is a perfect opportunity to involve less experienced technicians, associates, those who are just beginning, to take on some of these jobs in order to learn the craft. As well, in some instances, as we have here in Chicago, some of these pianos are marginally enough useful to pass on by donation to those who can't afford a piano. We started A Gift of PIanos about 9 years ago, and now the Chicago chapter of the PTG runs the program. 

If the pianos to which you refer are indeed simply "dead", then you're faced with the dismal task of being the coroner and making the formal declaration. But many of them still have use. 

Paul







-----Original Message-----
From: Michelle Smith <michelle at smithpianoservice.com>
To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 10:25 pm
Subject: Clunker pianos - what do you do?




Hi all.  I have to admit that I’m pretty tired of old clunker pianos.  Hammers are shot, strings are beginning to break, parts are failing left and right, and the pinblock was done quite a while ago.  The problem is that many people in my area can’t afford anything better and there’s no one else in my county to work on these old pianos.  

 

I’m curious how many of you refuse to work on clunkers anymore.  Every time I work on one I tell myself it is my last!  =)

 

Best wishes,

Michelle Smith

Smith Piano Service

Bastrop, Texas

 



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