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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I had a new experience yesterday. I =
refused to work
on a piano because of its deterioration status.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Went to appt. to pitch raise, tune and =
fix a couple
keys on a Sohmer console that was recently purchased used for $250. =
Piano was
about 40 years old. Lady told me last owner had stored it in garage for =
years.
Several keys were sticking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Open piano and saw 1/4-inch =
pinblock/frame
separation. Action & keys seems sluggish and keys way-unlevel. =
Dampers
oinking like they were being run over slooooowly by a
steamroller. Otherwise, piano seemed to be in one piece. Told =
lady
between pinblock, 150-cent pitch raise, tuning, and minor action work, =
she would
be looking easily at $500-plus. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>I =
recommended
that she replace the piano. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>She said "child is only 4 yo, surely we =
can just
put $200 into it so he can plunk on it to see if he takes to piano. If =
he does
well, I'll be happy to buy him a new piano." I told her piano teachers =
tell me
that the best way to make sure a child fails is to provide him a =
poor-performing
piano. But OK, we can tune it at pitch and try and free up the =
keys/action for
$200.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I should mention that all this is =
occurring in a
brand new $500K house in a brand new subdivision with a brand new Lexus =
SUV in
driveway and piano is in toy room with about $5K worth of toy trains, =
planes and
automobiles scattered about........</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Got to work, freed up a couple jacks, =
etc. in
action, then started on sticking keys. Found that the key pins were =
rusty at the
key balance hole. Key buttons started falling off. Key bushings started =
falling
out. <FONT face=Arial size=2>Several of the keys had to be pried off =
the balance
rail pin they were so corroded to it. I told her that she needed the =
pins
replaced and without doing that, I was forced to do the =
improper fix
of over-enlarging the key balance rail hole.</FONT> I =
recommended to
her that she replace the piano. She said "just do $200 worth of work - =
I'm sure
it will be just fine."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>After mangling a couple keys and seeing =
that they
still did not work, I said to myself: "Self, this is BS. You need to =
halt work
on this piano." Put piano back together, packed up my toys, and told the =
lady
that she needed over $500 worth of work in the keys alone just to make =
them
work, and that she would still have a piano with a slow action, a =
separated
pinblock, and oinking dampers. I told her that it was not possible to =
repair
this piano at any reasonable cost and that I was not willing to attempt =
to do
so.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I thought for sure she was just going =
to hit the
roof and call me bad names, etc. (because she was so insistent that we =
could
"make the piano good enough"). But she was very understanding
and thanked me profusely for my honesty. I was even willing to not =
charge
her because I wanted it to be clear that my intentions were genuine. She =
offered
and paid me my minimum fee. (Her son just started lessons with a =
teacher/client
of mine and I also tune for many of her other students.) We had a good =
talk
about finding a replacement piano, Larry Fine, etc., etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What I thought had developed into the =
service call
from hell, in the end turned out to be OK after all. This was one of =
those
pianos - like a termite riddled piano - that just gets worse and worse =
the
further you dig into it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry =
Farrell</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>