<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; =
charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1226" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Interesting question. My minimum is a =
spinet or
console that is in fair regulation and functions reasonably well. I =
think that
is pretty minimal and I know it leave much grey area. But it does =
exclude the
old upright with 800,000 miles on it with keys wobbling all over and =
action
banging and clanking all around. But when the darn thing doesn't =
function, and
it ain't going to function in this world, ya just gotta call it that
way!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'd sure be interested in anything =
anyone could say
that is more definitive. Again, we are talking about a beginner student
here.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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=Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
href="mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no">Richard Brekne</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Halt Piano =
Work!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P>SNIP
<P>Just where should we draw the line eh ??
<P>Farrell wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="CITE">
<STYLE></STYLE>
<FONT face=Arial><FONT size=-1>I had a new experience yesterday. =
I refused
to work on a piano because of its deterioration
status.</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT size=-1>Went =
to appt. to
pitch raise, tune and fix a couple keys on a Sohmer console that was =
recently purchased used for $250. Piano was about 40 years old. Lady =
told me
last owner had stored it in garage for years. Several keys were
sticking.</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT size=-1>Open =
piano and
saw 1/4-inch pinblock/frame separation. Action & keys seems =
sluggish and
keys way-unlevel. Dampers oinking like they were being run over =
slooooowly
by a steamroller. Otherwise, piano seemed to be in one piece. Told =
lady
between pinblock, 150-cent pitch raise, tuning, and minor action =
work, she
would be looking easily at $500-plus. I recommended that she replace =
the
piano.</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT size=-1>She =
said "child is
only 4 yo, surely we can just put $200 into it so he can plunk on it =
to see
if he takes to piano. If he does well, I'll be happy to buy him a =
new
piano." I told her piano teachers tell me that the best way to make =
sure a
child fails is to provide him a poor-performing piano. But OK, we =
can tune
it at pitch and try and free up the keys/action for
$200.</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT size=-1>I should =
mention
that all this is occurring in a brand new $500K house in a brand new =
subdivision with a brand new Lexus SUV in driveway and piano is in =
toy room
with about $5K worth of toy trains, planes and automobiles scattered =
about........</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT =
size=-1>Got to work,
freed up a couple jacks, etc. in action, then started on sticking =
keys.
Found that the key pins were rusty at the key balance hole. Key =
buttons
started falling off. Key bushings started falling out. Several of =
the keys
had to be pried off the balance rail pin they were so corroded to =
it. I told
her that she needed the pins replaced and without doing that, I was =
forced
to do the improper fix of over-enlarging the key balance rail hole. =
I
recommended to her that she replace the piano. She said "just do =
$200 worth
of work - I'm sure it will be just fine."</FONT></FONT> <FONT
face=Arial><FONT size=-1>After mangling a couple keys and seeing =
that they
still did not work, I said to myself: "Self, this is BS. You need to =
halt
work on this piano." Put piano back together, packed up my toys, and =
told
the lady that she needed over $500 worth of work in the keys alone =
just to
make them work, and that she would still have a piano with a slow =
action, a
separated pinblock, and oinking dampers. I told her that it was not =
possible
to repair this piano at any reasonable cost and that I was not =
willing to
attempt to do so.</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT =
size=-1>I
thought for sure she was just going to hit the roof and call me bad =
names,
etc. (because she was so insistent that we could "make the piano =
good
enough"). But she was very understanding and thanked me profusely =
for my
honesty. I was even willing to not charge her because I wanted it to =
be
clear that my intentions were genuine. She offered and paid me my =
minimum
fee. (Her son just started lessons with a teacher/client of mine and =
I also
tune for many of her other students.) We had a good talk about =
finding a
replacement piano, Larry Fine, etc., etc.</FONT></FONT> <FONT
face=Arial><FONT size=-1>What I thought had developed into the =
service call
from hell, in the end turned out to be OK after all. This was one of =
those
pianos - like a termite riddled piano - that just gets worse and =
worse the
further you dig into it.</FONT></FONT> <FONT face=Arial><FONT =
size=-1>Terry Farrell</FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>-- <BR>Richard Brekne <BR>RPT, N.P.T.F. <BR>UiB, Bergen, Norway =
<BR><A
href="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> =
<BR><A
=
href="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broad=
park.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A>
<BR><A
=
href="http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html">http://www.hf.uib=
.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html</A>
<BR> </P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>