<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: Likes her old clunker</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Ron,    How good are you at walking on water? No, really, there = is hope.  She is used to a light touch-weight and bright piano. The rel= ative 'softer' sound of the Walter, contributes to the sense that it is hard= er to play.  You could do the following...    Make the piano brighter...acetone by itself will brighte= n it up a bit, although the acetone/keytop solution is probably necessary. T= ake a hair dryer with you, and get it how she likes it ( brighter) before yo= u leave. If you are not used to juicing, with acetone, get help.     Have her play it for you, before you juice,  and observe her style and= strength. You can then decide how much juice to apply. Get her input.    Brightening this piano will give her the sense that the = piano is easier to play. Most of her complaints revolve arround tone product= ion and perceived touch-weight. Shorten the blow distance a little. (How is damper timing? If too early, yo= u could save some weight there) Make sure let-off is happening close, to get the most bang for the keystrok= e.    Her perception is common...I  hear the same refrain= from new piano owners. The point is, she must get aquainted with the instru= ment, by playing for say six months...and then you will do the 'final voicin= g'.   Dan Reed Dalas Chapter on 2/22/01 11:44 PM, Ron & Lorene Shiflet at rshiflet@eaznet.com wrote:= <BLOCKQUOTE>List,    I'm running into a problem.  A good friend and clie= nt of many years just couldn't stand her old clunker of 50 years.  I so= ld her a brand new professional studio which is a wonderful piano.  <BR= >    While we were waiting for the new piano to arrive, she b= ecame very emotional about her old piano and it became sentimental.  No= w she can't seem to enjoy her new piano.  I'm trying to decide the best= way to deal with this.    Her old piano is a 1950's Baldwin spinet, drop action, s= cuffed to death, missing finish from water vases placed on top, unlevel keys= , poor repetition, action in need of a rebuild, sounds "tinny" at = best.    Her new piano is a 2001 Charles Walter studio, Queen Ann= e, Accu-tuned to A-440, absolutely nothing wrong with it.      Her complaints are: <UL><LI>    The action is stiff.</FONT= > <LI>    Keys are hard to press   <LI>    "It feels like there's cotton under the keys&qu= ot;. <LI>    The notes don't ring when you let off= the key (go figure). <LI>    Keys don't repeat ( we'll look into t= his, but it didn't happen at     the tuning) <LI>    The sound just isn't real bright.</FO= NT> <LI>    Won't play loud unless you pound. </UL>I've worked for dealers before who had customers= so accustomed to their old clunker that they hated the good piano.  Al= l of you tasteful technicians, how do you deal with this.  Remember, sh= e's female and it's an emotional thing.  I told her to play on it for 2= weeks and get used to the feel, and then I'll come out. Ron rshiflet@eaznet.com   </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>