[pianotech] To restore, or not to restore, there's the question

[Jim]

Like I said . .  we're in the SERVICE business . . . . .
No question, what the lady wants, the lady should get . .
the piano is the only tangible thing that represents her memories . .
Do it !

Jim K
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Chuck Behm
  To: pianotech at ptg.org
  Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 1:08 PM
  Subject: [pianotech] To restore, or not to restore, there's the question


  Ok, concerning whether to restore or not to restore, here’s a case in 
point.  I just tuned a piano this morning, for lack of a more polite term, 
a crappy spinet (brand W, if you catch my drift). It will not hold a 
tuning, even after 3 separate applications of Loc-Tite over the last 4 
years. It’s the dry, heated air during the Iowa winters that does it. The 
finish of the piano is shot – a sprayed on lacquer that been sun-damaged to 
the point where it’s peeling off. The keytops are cracking from side to 
side.

              The customer, a lady whom is a bit older than me (although I’m 
smart enough not to ask for her specific age) inquired about what could be 
done. She’s got a tax refund coming and would like to put it towards fixing 
the piano like new.

              Understand, please, that this type of instrument is not my 
cup of tea. It has no style at all, with tapered dowel legs. The only thing 
at all good about it is the tone, which is surprisingly good for a spinet 
for a short time at least after it is tuned.

              She seemed earnest in her request to know, however, so I 
listed some of the obvious repairs we could do if the piano were brought to 
our shop. New, brushed on polyurethane finish. New keytops (she liked the 
satin, off-white sample). Ream with size 3 drill and repin with size 4 pins 
(since the tone is really good with the present strings, I would leave them 
alone). File the hammers, regulate and retune several times. I got out my 
estimate book and added the numbers. $3385. She was not at all taken aback 
at this.

              I asked her about the history of the piano. It was given to 
her, it seems, on the occasion of her 7th birthday, by her dad, who then a 
month later went off to fight in the Korean War and got shot. He came home 
in a box. She had tears in her eyes as she told me the story. I got the 
feeling that the passage of more than 50 years had not deadened the pain.

              Value of the piano? Commercially, as is, next to nothing. 
Pianos such as this are given away in our shopper all the time. With the 
work done, I don’t know, but I’m guessing not a lot. Maybe $500. $1000? It’s 
hard for me to say, since this is not the type of piano I would ever bring 
into my shop with the thought of reconditioning and reselling.

              So, so here’s the question. Do I fix it or not? It’s 
definitely not a piano I’m in love with. Do I tell my customer that I’m 
sorry but it’s not worth fixing, or do I use my talents to try and make her 
piano look and sound the way it did the day she came home from the 2nd 
grade and found it in her bedroom with a big red satin bow on it?

              Your call.              Chuck


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