<!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 6.00.6000.16643" 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> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=#000000 link=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michelle-</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If this is your market, you might as well become an expert in all aspects of it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is the opposite of consumerism and instant gratification. You're preserving history and keeping family heirlooms intact. In this world, that's amazing work.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Some of those old uprights were very well designed and built(New Haven Mathusheks, for instance).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Some have positive quirks that make them easy to repair (Old Kimballs with butt plates make repinning faster).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>New repair techniques have appeared that make the impossible affordable. (Bill Bremmer's bass string restoration technique in the Jan 08 Journal, steam to refresh old dampers, new techniques to improve soundboard performance).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>New finish restoration products are available.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'll bet within 5 years we'll see generic, adjustable composite action replacement parts, maybe even offering repetition springs for vertical actions.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Take photos to document your work, and you can write articles about your discoveries.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed Sutton</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=michelle@smithpianoservice.com href="mailto:michelle@smithpianoservice.com">Michelle Smith</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 9:09 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Clunker pianos - what do you do?</DIV> <DIV><BR></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<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> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><BR><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This is a perfect opportunity to involve less experienced technicians, associates, those who are just beginning, to take on some of these jobs in order to learn the craft. As well, in some instances, as we have here in Chicago, some of these pianos are marginally enough useful to pass on by donation to those who can't afford a piano. We started <I>A Gift of PIanos</I> about 9 years ago, and now the Chicago chapter of the PTG runs the program. <BR><BR><BR><BR>Paul</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV id=u8CA68EB00AEFDE6-1248-258A> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-TOP: 7.5pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>