On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>wrote: > Do you seriously think that a 85 year old, rusty stringed, most likely > worn-out-everything, <5' Wurly grand - that might cost $1K - and then add > another $1K at least to regulate action (to what extent it can be regulated > with deformed felt, etc.) and misc. small repairs (and you'd still have a > worn-out rusty piano) - would make for a more desirable instrument than the > brassy booming sound of an asian grand (a quick work-over with a pair of > pliers would mellow it out)? Better yet, just find a ten or 15 year old > Young Chang or Samick studio upright which can be found for less than $1K - > and you'll have a well-functioning, almost new, decent sounding piano for a > fraction of the cost. > > If someone really wants to patch up an old beater, I'll usually work with > them and not berate them. However, I will also spend a few minutes talking > with them about what else is out there that could yield much more musical > benefit for less money. > > Terry Farrell > > On Mar 19, 2010, at 6:36 PM, Michael Magness wrote: > > > I would look at this as a little gem for say, perhaps a student > transitioning from a vertical to a grand in a home where they don't have a > lot of room or money for a grand and/or don't want the brassy booming sound > of an asian grand of this size. > If I'm not mistaken it has a full size action which will give a student the > feel and touch, after you regulate it for them of course, of a grand piano. > > It may not be a top name grand but we all didn't start out playing top name > instruments, did we? > > If students can have starter pianos, read old spinets, uprights, consoles > all of which have seen better days, why not a starter grand? One that with a > little TLC and a good technician may never be a silk purse but may be a cut > above the average sow's ear we all run across. > > Mike > -- > > It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought > without accepting it. > > Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) > > Michael Magness > Magness Piano Service > 608-786-4404 > www.IFixPianos.com <http://www.ifixpianos.com/> > email mike at ifixpianos.com > > > Hi Terry, First of all, a little rust on the strings isn't the end all especially on a Wurly! They used low tension scales to match their low torque pins/pinblocks, think about it how many strings have you had to replace on Wurly's rusty or otherwise? Secondly Rob described it as having very little wear on the hammers, which tells me that this was probably one of those "living room" pianos, it sat with the lid raised to show off that they could afford a grand, never mind the fact that the sounding board in square inches is probably smaller than some spinet sounding boards. In other words, nobody seriously played it so it shows little sign of wear. So some bolstering of knuckles, brush up the buckskin, sand it a little, shape hammers, I doubt the backchecks need more than a buffing with a suede brush and it's ready to regulate. I've seen them older than that still working, still functioning, no they aren't concert quality but for a couple of thou they can be a decent learning instrument. Remember You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. Mark Twain <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain131203.html> Mike -- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com <http://www.ifixpianos.com/> email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100320/2aadf3c8/attachment.htm>
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