<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1 = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR><o:SmartTagType name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType> <STYLE>  </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Cracks in the soundboard of this piano are likely to be its least problem. As far as the buzz goes, they can be challenge to isolate, but often a touch of glue, a screw, a strategically jammed business card, etc. will solve the problem in no time.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And if it is miracles the owner expects, then perform them - just let her know they are going to cost her though!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regardless of what she paid for it, if the piano is not worth the input of $$ to get it to the point where it meets her needs, then by all means inform her of that very clearly.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I tuned a piano today for a new customer. She is apparently a good intermediate-level classical player. She just bought a good condition 1950 Baldwin spinet for $900. I told her it needed about $1,000 of maintenance-type work (regulation, key bushings, a few other worn items, etc.) to get it to play as well as a well-maintained 50 year old Baldwin spinet can. I also informed her that she can buy an excellent condition Yamaha studio piano that will outperform her spinet by a factor of at least 10 for less than $2,000.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hey, what can I say, the truth sometimes hurts.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As far as your husband goes........ well, that's OT....  ;-)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV> <DIV class=Section1> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hi all.  I’ll vent on you because my husband just doesn’t “get it”.  Today was my first experience with telling a customer that her very pretty 100 year old Ludwig upright has major cracks in the soundboard and needs serious help.  (It’s buzzing in the F4 area).  She spent too much money on the piano, can’t afford an overhaul, and just stared at me like I’m supposed to perform miracles.  <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Any sympathy or miracle suggestions are welcomed.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'">Michelle Smith<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'">Smith Piano Service<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'">Bastrop</SPAN></FONT></st1:City><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue><SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'">, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State></SPAN></FONT></st1:place><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue><SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'">(512) 466-0238<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Tempus Sans ITC" color=blue size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tempus Sans ITC'">michelle@cdaustin.com<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>