[pianotech] Vesey Player info

[Tom Gorley]

Rob, listen to Ron.  As a musician bringing joy to people, grandma would be horrified at the idea of her great grandchildren trying to show their musicality on a broken down instrument.  Don't let sentimental value supersede grandma's love of music. Her legacy is good music, not a piano. Suggest that your client pass that on.
     ---Tom Gorley


On Dec 1, 2010, at 7:55 PM, Ron Nossaman wrote

> On 12/1/2010 8:01 PM, Rob McCall wrote:
>> Greetings,
>> 
>> I have an evaluation tomorrow of a player piano (player parts have
>> been removed many years ago) that has the name "Vesey" and a serial
>> number of 154005.
> 
> Sorry, it's not a player. Absence of the player makes it just another old long dead upright.
> 
> 
>> It belonged to the client's grandmother and has tremendous
>> sentimental value to the client.  Her grandmother had quit high
>> school to work and buy this piano to support her brother's vaudeville
>> act and had received a lot of use.
> 
> Still an old long dead upright. They didn't try to keep Rex the Wonder Dog going for sixty years past his death, did they?
> 
> 
>> Anyway, the client inherited this piano and would like to "fix it up"
>> and tune it. She is looking for any information (age, manufactured,
>> etc.) that she can find.  She believes it is from the Memphis area.
> 
> "Fix it up"? This definition will be the core of the matter.
> 
> 
>> I looked in the Pierce Piano Atlas (12th edition) and the name isn't
>> even in there. I found some references on a google search to talks
>> with Baldwin, but this company's name isn't listed with Baldwin.
>> Other than a few hits here and there, there isn't much info I can
>> find...
> 
> Unless someone famous threw up in it, and there is specific documentation to that effect, I'd be amazed if you found anything even general about it's history. In any case, the history (unless...) is totally irrelevant to making it into a piano. If it's an item of family reverence, load it with pictures, light candles, and enshrine it as is, and as cheaply as possible. If they want an instrument, price a full resurrection. If they want an instrument and a player, double the estimate and call me. I can likely build you a player for it.
> 
> Reality, at some point, will have to be addressed here. Be kind, but truthful and thorough. Or blow out the chunks, file the hammers, dip the rest in CA, and get the check cashed as quickly as possible.
> 
> There's a LOAD of customer education needed here.
> Ron N
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101201/38deb155/attachment.htm>