<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"> <style>  </style>  </head> <body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Thanks to Terry Farrell for his  deep concern about the plight of the this poor New Hampshire Church and their wish to stop heating all of the Great North Woods.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>However, I am deeply skeptical of the expertise of some Hawaiian print shirt Florida person whose heating experience is confined to turning the air conditioning DOWN when he wants to be warmer; and the closest he’s ever come to frostbite is reaching deep into the back of the freezer for more Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.  <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>That being said, I approached my client about Mr. Farrell’s proposal.  To my surprise they expressed great interest.  She is a former procurement officer in the airforce, so your bid will have to be preceded by 8,000 pages of documentation in triplicate, a working  prototype, and 6 years of field testing with confirmed failure rates high enough to gain the ire of a taxpayers watchdog group,  THEN he can bill the church.  If he is lucky, he’ll get paid in 6 months to a year.  But he can double bill because the bookkeeping  will get lost and be untraceable.  <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>She has also indicated that she wants the piano in the shape of her antique 25 foot Chris Craft with lots of mahogany trim.  Do you have any experience working with wood, Mr. Farrell?  References, please!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Will Truitt<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <div> <div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Farrell<br> <b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 10, 2008 5:30 PM<br> <b>To:</b> Pianotech List<br> <b>Subject:</b> Re: Pianos in the Deep Freeze<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> </div> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I think if you put a new piano in that churce, as others have pointed out, it will become firewood in very short order.</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I think you need to commission someone (me, for instance!) to build you a custom fiberglass case piano with a carbon-fiber soundboard, etc. We can retrofit a Kawai ABS action to it and get a set of keys made out of some appropriate man-made material.</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>No sweat! Oh boy, I was looking for a new fun project!!!</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>What size? What color? When do we start?</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Terry Farrell</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt; margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt'> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>----- Original Message ----- <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='background:#E4E4E4'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <a href="mailto:surfdog@metrocast.net" title="surfdog@metrocast.net">Will Truitt</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>To:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" title="pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Sent:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Wednesday, January 09, 2008 7:52 PM<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Subject:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Pianos in the Deep Freeze<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> </div> <p class=MsoNormal>I would appreciate the advice of those of you on the list pertaining to this topic:  One of my customers is the pianist for a 200 year old congregational church here in New Hampshire.  Because of the very high cost of heating oil this winter, the church has decided to turn the heat off completely between Sundays.  It’s a big, airy church with no insulation in the walls and single pane windows.  So, a day or so after services, the interior temperatures will nearly match whatever they are outdoors.  <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Presently, the pianist is using an old upright that has one foot in the grave.  The church music committee has just given her $15.000 to buy a new grand piano.  But she is concerned that the lack of heat between services in the wintertime will damage the piano, and wonders if the new piano would be an appropriate investment given the conditions it will be kept.  She has asked my advice.  <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Some background about our winter climate in New Hampshire.  Our winters can be long and cold.  We can have protracted cold spells where the overnight lows can be  - 10 or – 20.  Common overnight lows will be in the single numbers and teens.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I have seen pianos that were stored in an unheated truck for a couple of days brought inside to a heated space.  Within an hour or so, you will see condensation forming on the exterior of the piano.  Because the piano is so cold, I have seen frost form!<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I think the issues that this piano would face are these:  The condensation that is the byproduct of the freeze – thaw cycles will damage the finish of the soundboard and the case, which may lead to crazing.  Sluggish and sticking keys will be a common complaint. Strings and other steel parts will rust because of the condensation.   Given that the temperature will jack from very low to 60 or 65 degrees in a few hours, I would be concerned about the soundboard cracking due to expansion caused by the rise in temperature.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>What are your thoughts?  Thanks in advance for your offering.  <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Will Truitt<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> </blockquote> </div> </body> </html>