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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I just finished closing the mother of =
all piano
deals! I received a phone call from a friend who works for a local =
dealer. A guy was looking for a grand piano- ANY grand piano, to =
use for
"prepared piano" experimental recordings. He didn't want to pay =
much, so
the dealer didn't have anything for him. He was referred to =
me since
I just happened to have the perfect specimen for this fellow's
needs.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The piano: a 1923 Wurlitzer baby =
grand.
It had been sitting in a damp salty garage 2 miles from the California =
central
coast for 15 years, a real rust bucket with at least ten major cracks in =
the
soundboard, loose ribs, pressure ridges, loose pins, dirt =
everywhere1 The
finish was a crazed cracked up mess. I had taken the piano for =
free and
brought it to Las Vegas nearly a year ago without much careful
examination. It wasn't until later that I realized how bad it =
really was,
and the Nevada 14% humidity didn't help much. Recently I
began contemplating where I might find a good dumpster for it =
and how
I was going to get it there.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I spoke with the gentleman on the phone =
a
few days ago, and almost joking I explained that I had something =
that might
work for him. He said he only cared about the bass notes, that =
they had to
be able to produce a "good dead thud". Well, as old and corroded =
as these
were, it would certainly foot the bill! I told him to give me a =
few days
to set it up and see what could be done with it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Once on it's feet, I =
discovered it to be
caked with thick dirt everywhere inside. The soundboard was black =
and the
strings were as rusty as could be. The action was nearly frozen, =
and the
hammers were flatter than an iron. I took everything =
apart and
spent a good hour blowing and vacuuming pounds of dirt. I used a =
stiff
wire brush and scrubbed the tuning pins hard, creating an impressive =
"rust
cloud". I tapped down the tuning pins to persuade a little torque =
and
tightened every screw I could find, (most at least one full =
turn!) I
spent a half day shaping the hammers, lubing centerpins, leveling keys, =
(on
rusty key pins), and replaced two wippens. Behold, after two =
tunings and a
lot of frustration, this PSO actually made a sound that "pretended" to =
be a
piano.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This evening the guy came over to look =
at it and
was ecstatic.... SOLD, $800.00!! Now that is what I call trash to
treasure!!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Rob Goodale, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Las Vegas, =
NV</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>