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<DIV>
<DIV> Hey big Dave</DIV>
<DIV> Merry Christmas & Gods blessing to your big heart. You=
r
Mercy & kindess are truly a part of the Christmas story my
friend.</DIV>
<DIV> Dale</DIV>
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style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
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e=2><FONT
face=Verdana><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Hey my
colleagues------<BR><BR><BR>Just thought I’d share a little from t=
he last
week. I have a client, Don Beamsley, who has been a well-known and
successful jazz player in SoCal forever; he’s played with every bi=
g band
around, from Tommy Dorsey, Horace Heidt, Glenn Miller, Tex Beneke----the l=
ist
is endless; he was even the LA Dodger organist for a while in the 60=
s and
70’s.<BR><BR>So—he’s got a sweet Steinway B that h=
e was given by his mentor, a
1930 instrument. It was maintained throughout its life by mostly 2 legenda=
ry
techs---first Cecil Short, the “man” in the Pomona Valley =
for many years,a nd
then by Norman Neblett, an LA denizen and Golden Hammer recipient. I=
’ve
been maintaining the piano for the last 18 years.<BR><BR>Anyway, you know =
the
story---I’ve been nagging this guy for years to do the work:  =
;the piano’s
got all original parts and strings, and he’s always used the tradi=
tional
procrastinating musician’s excuses: “ I just can’t=
pull the trigger now,
DA---I can’t be sure if I’ll work this strong next year, m=
y wife’s gig stopped
this year, I need a new roof---”whatever. I’m a life-long =
musician; I’ve used
them all.<BR><BR>He is so sweet, and so funny, and such a monstrously
beautiful player, and I’m such a soft touch in a certain way, that=
I made it
no problem, and just kept bringing the damn Protek ( the verdigris was out=
of
control on this pig).<BR><BR>To make a long, long story very short, Don no=
w
has Class 3 Parkinson’s Disease, has for 2 years, has lost 90 poun=
ds, and his
prognosis is delicate, to put it mildly. But he still rolls
himself up to the piano and plays for an hour or so every day.<BR><BR>So a=
month ago I took his wife in the other room and just said now’s th=
e time,
sweetie, for the bullshit to cease and for us to do something.
So---because her cash flow at this point is questionable, we opted f=
or
the battlefield triage:<BR>--Rebuilt keyframe: key bushing, underfelt,
backchecks and wires, clean and polish rail pins and captstans and glides,=
raise height and level keys<BR>--repinned shanks, “smoked-out=
whippen
flanges<BR>--new knuckles<BR>--rebuilt pedals and pedal mod<BR>--hammers f=
iled
(very difficult and dicey)<BR>--lift, level, seat strings<BR>--COMPLETE ac=
tion
regulation<BR>--RP and tune<BR><BR>THANKS SO MUCH, MICHAEL CAMPI. Yo=
u
did a great job on the keyframe, pedals, knuckles and shanks.<BR><BR>When =
I
FINALLY got the damn thing playing “right---” and that too=
k almost 2 full
days---<BR>Don rolled up and started playing; we were both crying. H=
e
loved it; he called me “a friggin’ genius.”<BR><BR=
>This is what I work for;
this is what I live for; I did the work at about 65% of what I would
ordinarily charge;<BR>The money is NOT the payoff.<BR><BR>To bring love an=
d
happiness to music lovers, music players, human beings with sweet hearts a=
nd
beautiful intentions: this is what this work is all about. I=
’m
feeling good.<BR><BR>My love and respect to all.....<BR>David Andersen
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