<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" 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"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3314" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE>@font-face {
font-family: Cambria Math;
}
@font-face {
font-family: Calibri;
}
@page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; }
P.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"
}
LI.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"
}
DIV.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"
}
P.msochpdefault {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-style-name: msochpdefault; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto
}
LI.msochpdefault {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-style-name: msochpdefault; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto
}
DIV.msochpdefault {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-style-name: msochpdefault; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto
}
SPAN.emailstyle17 {
mso-style-name: emailstyle17
}
SPAN.EmailStyle19 {
COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-style-type: personal
}
SPAN.EmailStyle20 {
COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-style-type: personal-reply
}
.MsoChpDefault {
mso-style-type: export-only
}
DIV.Section1 {
page: Section1
}
</STYLE>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></HEAD>
<BODY lang=EN-US vLink=#000000 link=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Interesting comments on this topic. IMHO, one important
item not addressed is to add up the cost of bringing the clunker to the target
playing level and evaluate how that compares to replacement with a late-model
piano. So very often, a $500 to $1K 20 year old Kimball (or whatever)
console or studio (as much as I hate these things) will make for a much better
playing/sounding instrument (okay, a stretch to describe it as an instrument...)
than putting those same funds into the old clunker. IMHO, $1K worth of bandaids
on an old clunker = an old worn-out piano that plays marginally better,
but will still likely cost $300 every time it is tuned due to repairs on hammer
shanks, unglued jack flanges, breaking strings, etc., etc., etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Not always, but very often.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>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 style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><FONT
size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Thanks
to everyone who has responded to my e-mail. You’re really helping me
sort out my thoughts on this issue.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">As
Paul stated, sometimes there is still life in these pianos but very often the
owner is expecting a miracle. I guess it comes from our society of
instant gratification. The piano tuner is supposed to make the piano
work again just like the appliance repairman makes the dishwasher work
again. Instead I sometimes have to be the bearer of bad news.
Repairs are costly and many people here just can’t afford it. I want
people to be happy and instead we both get frustrated.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Concerning
passing these pianos off to less experienced techs….I’m it! Ha Ha
Ha! The older gentleman who owns the local music shop and tunes pianos
can’t see well enough to do the repairs so he’s passing ALL of his repair work
to me. Most Austin techs are unwilling to make the drive so if I don’t
fix them they won’t get fixed. Ironically, this is why I got into this
business in the first place. I saw a need in our community and I jumped
in. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Thanks
to everyone for listening to my mental wanderings.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Have
a super Thursday!<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Michelle</SPAN></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>