<br><br> <div><span class="gmail_quote">On 8/29/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">william ballard</b> <<a href="mailto:yardbird@vermontel.net">yardbird@vermontel.net</a>> wrote:</span> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"><br>On Aug 29, 2007, at 11:26 AM, MICHAEL MORVAN wrote:<br>> Bill, What do "they" want to do concerning the ivory, and what do <br>> "you" want to do concerning the ivory?<br><br>The "They" I'm worried about would be the Development Office. Someone<br>might remark, " Oh such a beautiful ivory covering, what charlatan <br>would be so quick to slap plastic on it". The music directors are<br>practical people and would waste precious dollars on this aspect of<br>the rebuilding. That's my attitude as well. I was just checking for<br> corroboration in others' experience that ivory coverings which<br>started out @ 50 mils, and after 100 years are well-bowled in the<br>middle of the keyboard, with front substrates peeling off, should be<br>chucked.<br> <br>> A new ivory keyboard is going to cost about $3,250.00 by the time<br>> it is all said and done, repairing the existing ivory with that<br>> much damage is a nightmare to say the least.<br><br>I was guessing that a careful ivory restoration would run ~$800-900, <br>and regardless of the diligence of the repair work or the extent of<br>replacements during the patching, such a recovering with the original<br>materials would be far less durable than new plastic tops at 1/3 the<br>cost. <br><br>> Have you considered mineral plastic? It has two of the three<br>> coveted properties of ivory and bone, 1. it is cool to the touch,<br>> 2. it grips your fingers, and, at a fraction of the cost of new<br> > ivory. It comes in off-white and crème color if someone is looking<br>> for an ivory look.<br>> Just some thoughts.      Mike<br><br>Very interesting, I just checked it out at your website. I'm assuming<br> the labor costs on this are equivalent to plastic, not real ivory.<br><br>On Aug 29, 2007, at 1:30 PM, Michael Magness wrote:<br>> My point is, yes it may be a Steinway but look beyond that, look at<br>> the shape it's in now, that is what it will resemble in 5 to 10 <br>> years. Music Directors are full of good intentions but they get<br>> busy, things get hectic, details get forgotten, so wherever<br>> possible bullet-proof (almost literally) the piano.<br><br>One good thing is that the band and chorus rooms, where all the <br>bookbags and instrument cases boogie, is down on the ground floor,<br>and the stage is up two flights of stairs. A garage would not be hard<br>to sell and build. In S VT, summer RH doesn't get much above 85%, and<br> when in use over the summer, the hall has very good AC. http://<br><a href="http://www.burrburton.org/campus/riley/index.htm">www.burrburton.org/campus/riley/index.htm</a><br><br>> My point is just because it says Steinway on it, don't let that rob <br>> you of your common sense!<br><br>The real impetus here is a summer chamber music program which puts on<br>weekly student recitals. And the music directors and I have a build-<br>it-and-they-will-come out look. Once cold weather hits, this is the <br>main venue in town, and there's a very strong and loyal classical<br>music audience in town. I've already got a firm hand on the piano at<br>the main venue during the summer time.<br><br>Mr. Bill<br><br>Hi Bill, </blockquote> <div> </div> <div>Mike again from Wisconsin, I am truly not trying to rain on your parade. I will preface my remarks, in case you haven't guessed, by saying I do not worship at the shrine of Steinway as so many of my fellow techs do. The Steinways did a lot for the modern piano and I will not try to make light of that, my only point is that there have been innovations in materials and methods since most of their patents were taken well over 100 years ago. </div> <div> </div> <div>I was speaking earlier today from the standpoint of a public school and the financial and student stresses that would be in place regarding this piano. After looking at the school and its info via the link you provided I can see that it's not an ordinary high school. </div> <div> </div> <div>Certain things you said did stand out, </div> <div> "RH doesn't get much above 85%, and<br>when in use over the summer, the hall has very good AC".</div> <div> </div> <div> Is that RH outside in the sunshine? or inside a closed, cement block/brick clad building which absorbs and holds all of the humidity offered, often 100% overnight. Is the AC an actual standard type AC such as you would find in a home, the kind that dehumidifies? Or the more common "chilled water" type that cools the air but doesn't remove the humidity such as you find in large commercial structures?(My son is in that biz) When it's not in use in the summer, is the building as humid and stifling as I suspect? Remember the piano will absorb humidity at an alarmingly quick rate but take weeks to fully dry out, so a few days without AC........... </div> <div> </div> <div>The garage is a good idea but I would suggest a full Dampp-Chaser system with a full drop cover and an undercover in addition to it.</div> <div> </div> <div>In addition to the Steinway 0 I spoke of earlier today I also cared for a Steinway B that was "restored" locally that belonged to a parochial high school. Again it sat in their band room for years in disrepair, eventually a fund was begun to restore it and enough was raised to do so. It was placed in the theatre in the high school, I suggested a garage, numerous times but it never happened. It had a cover, standard type and Dampp-Chaser installed by someone prior to me, The cover was never put on properly except when I finished tuning it, I always found it sitting with the music rack open, the top folded back with the cover folded back under it or lying in a heap between the piano and the stage. A large metal plaque had been engraved with the names of all of the donors and affixed to the music rack causing the tiny screws that hold the hinges for the rack to pull out, fall into the action and cause keys to stick, imagine that! </div> <div>I arrived one day to tune and as is my habit with all grands, particularly school grands,  crossed to the hinge side of the top and gave it a lift and it came up, it wasn't attached! All of the screws attaching the hinges to the top had fallen out and were lying underneath the hinges on the soundboard. Some Titebond and shoepegs in the holes, replace the screws and it was ready to go. Every time I tuned it, I had to align at least 5 or 6 hammers on the strings, they would be hanging up on their neighbor or striking the next string or I would have to use the shift pedal to tune all three strings of a unison! This was all during the 3rd through 10th year following the rebuild. Was I unhappy when they hired a new director who favors a different tech in town? No, I found this piano to be a headache and a nuisance, what should have been a straight forward tuning always turned into 3 to 4 hours of adjustments and repairs and tuning. </div> <div> </div> <div>My point is exactly what it was earlier today, CYA everywhere you can on this, yes it's a Steinway, good, fine, great! Now we have that out of the way, look at the PRACTICAL side of the job because everything that goes wrong with it, will be your fault!! Whether it is or not! If the director or a student or a custodian leaves it uncovered or unplugged, somehow it will come back to you! I like to point out to my friends that I'm a right-brained person working in a left-brained world, it's not that I don't see and enjoy the esthetics, I just have to have the nuts and bolts of it done correctly first! So when I see people getting excited and starry-eyed over this Steinway or that Bechstein, I step back and assess the situation from the common sense angle because my fear is they may not be. Call it my gift, irritating?, very, ask my wife, she's been putting up with it for 37 years! <grin>  </div><br> </div>I'm not trying to change your mind about anything, just give you some different points of view, some experiences, some hard won knowledge to add to the mix. Inever claim to be always right about anything except to my wife, of course she knows better! LOL!! <br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous. <br>- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky<br><br>Michael Magness <br>Magness Piano Service<br>608-786-4404<br><a href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com</a><br>email <a href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</a>