In the opinions expressed about the ethics of working on old uprights,
the guiding principle seems to be whether an old piano is "worth fixing" or
not. Most technicians posting their opinions think that in
Sentimental value is a very important concept to understand, in that it
trumps commercial value, is in many cases is by far the most important
consideration to the customer.
My mother's wedding and engagement rings, for me, are an example of how
important sentiment value can be. They are very slender golden rings, with a
very, very small stone set in the engagement ring. Commercially, the rings
together would be worth next to nothing. Sentimentally, however, they are
priceless to me. They are practically the only thing I have left of my folks
to remember them by, and the only thing that represents their 60 years of
marriage.
In the case of a piano with sentimental value such as this, I look the
instrument over with the customer and explain what we can and cannot do to
bring the piano back to as close to the way it was when it was new as
possible.
What I can tell the customer is this:
1. When we finish with the piano, the case will be beautiful. Whether it's
ornate or plane, it will look as if it belongs on a showroom floor. The
finish will be glassy smooth, all chipped or damaged veneer will have been
repaired, and it will be the showpiece of any room.
2.
The statement that "It wasn't that great of a piano to begin with," for
me begs the question, "How can you be so sure?" Unless it's a brand you've
seen numerous times, and know from past experience will probably be a lemon
(as I would attest for Meldorf grands, having had 4 of them in the shop
over the years - I still will work on them, but only with the understanding
of the owner of what they are going to have when I'm done - which is not
much, from a tonal standpoint), it's hard to see what the piano was like
when it began when it's been banged around for a century or so. So many
brands are unfamiliar, even to an experienced technician. Flip through the
pages of the Pierce Piano Atlas, and see how many brands you recognize, and
how many you don't. I have a copy of the Atlas that I've kept since I
started in business in the early 1970's, that has a check mark besides every
brand I've encountered. There are far more names without a check mark than
with - and that's after over 35 years of working on pianos.
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