<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">Great post, Dave.  Thanks for po= inting out things many of us can forget while trying to hustle for a living.=   Merry Christmas to you, Dave Stahl In a message dated 12/12/04 10:45:23 AM Pacific Standard Time, bigda@gte= .net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> Hey my colleagues------ Just thought Iâ€™d share a l= ittle from the last week.  I have a client, Don Beamsley, who has been = a well-known and successful jazz player in SoCal forever; heâ€™s playe= d with every big band around, from Tommy Dorsey, Horace Heidt, Glenn Miller,= Tex Beneke----the list is endless; he was even the LA Dodger organist for a= while in the 60â€™s and 70â€™s. Soâ€”heâ€™s = got a sweet Steinway B that he was given by his mentor, a 1930 instrument. I= t was maintained throughout its life by mostly 2 legendary techs---first Cec= il Short, the â€śmanâ€ť in the Pomona Valley for many years,a nd= then by Norman Neblett, an LA denizen and Golden Hammer recipient.  I= â€™ve been maintaining the piano for the last 18 years. Anyway,= you know the story---Iâ€™ve been nagging this guy for years to do the= work:  the pianoâ€™s got all original parts and strings, and he= â€™s always used the traditional procrastinating musicianâ€™s ex= cuses: â€ś I just canâ€™t pull the trigger now, DA---I canâ= €™t be sure if Iâ€™ll work this strong next year, my wifeâ€= ™s gig stopped this year, I need a new roof---â€ťwhatever. Iâ€= ™m a life-long musician; Iâ€™ve used them all. He is so sweet= , and so funny, and such a monstrously beautiful player, and Iâ€™m suc= h a soft touch in a certain way, that I made it no problem, and just kept br= inging the damn Protek ( the verdigris was out of control on this pig). <= BR>To make a long, long story very short, Don now has Class 3 Parkinsonâ= €™s Disease, has for 2 years, has lost 90 pounds, and his prognosis is d= elicate,  to put it mildly.  But he still rolls himself up to the = piano and plays for an hour or so every day. So a month ago I took hi= s wife in the other room and just said nowâ€™s the time, sweetie, for = the bullshit to cease and for us to do something.  So---because her cas= h flow at this point is questionable, we opted for the battlefield triage:<B= R>--Rebuilt keyframe: key bushing, underfelt, backchecks and wires, clean an= d polish rail pins and captstans and glides, raise height and level keys = --repinned shanks, â€śsmoked-outâ€ť whippen flanges --new knu= ckles --rebuilt pedals and pedal mod --hammers filed (very difficult a= nd dicey) --lift, level, seat strings --COMPLETE action regulation = --RP and tune THANKS SO MUCH, MICHAEL CAMPI.  You did a great jo= b on the keyframe, pedals, knuckles and shanks. When I FINALLY got th= e damn thing playing â€śright---â€ť and that took almost 2 full = days--- Don rolled up and started playing; we were both crying.  He = loved it; he called me â€śa frigginâ€™ genius.â€ť T= his is what I work for; this is what I live for; I did the work at about 65%= of what I would ordinarily charge; The money is NOT the payoff. T= o bring love and happiness to music lovers, music players, human beings with= sweet hearts and beautiful intentions:  this is what this work is all = about.  Iâ€™m feeling good. My love and respect to all....= . David Andersen </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>