<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3314" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Do you explain that the bit by bit may well total $10K+?  Everyone's definition of "good playability" is different.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Depending on the condition of the piano, IMHO, it would be a great disservice to not discuss the total potential costs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I always discuss with the piano owner the piano player's playing level, and what kind of performance they are ultimately looking for in a piano. With that, I can give them some sort of accurate projection on costs associated with "fixing" their piano vs. replacing the piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>IMHO, many piano owners play poor performing pianos for years and years not realizing that a newer piano, or one properly "refurbished" or "rebuilt" may play and sound much nicer.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I think it is a disservice to not discuss these topics and have a promising pianist stumble along with an old worn-out poor-playing piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Not saying you do this Mike - just stating this in general to whomever it might apply.</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"><B>From:</B> <A title=mkurta@roadrunner.com href="mailto:mkurta@roadrunner.com">Michael Kurta</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:00 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Clunker pianos - what do you do?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    On older pianos needing lots of work, I'll often tell the customer, "We'll pitch raise and tune today, and maybe repair the most pressing need.  Next visit, we'll do further work and bit by bit, we'll bring this piano back to good playability."  Seems to appeal to most piano owners when faced with many costly repairs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>