<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=windows-1252"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4807.2300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Rob:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Sounds like not only = was the piano from hell, but so was the customer.  I hate unreasonable = piano owners.  However, if I have the time, I'll take one on.  By = that I mean I look at the owner as a challenge to educate and eventually win = him/her over to my way of thinking.  When confronted by a piano from hell, = and its obvious that it should not be repaired, I make a list,  the most = important and expensive things first.  In this case your list was very long, but honestly reflected the items needing attention.  = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Then by going down = the list WITH the owner, explaining in detail item by item what the instrument needs = to make it usable, and why, the customer will begin to realize (without you = telling him) that it may be a lost cause.  But if you start out your analysis by = saying "it is a dead piano and there is nothing left to fix" you may encounter resistance.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    The idea is to let = the customer's thinking flow into the obvious by gently pointing out the = many, many things the piano needs to bring it back to good playability.  = Occasionally I'll use a quote from my mentor Frank McKowen, RPT from Lansing, MI who = said, "You deserve a better piano."  This sometimes enables the = owner see the light.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    If all that you say = falls on deaf ears, its time to pack up your tools and say, "You know Mr. = Pianist, I'm not sure I can handle this job, its probably best to try another technician."  Leave him with hope that there may be an answer, and let another reinforce your findings.  Maybe that will head him = in the right direction,  you've done all you can do.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Mike Kurta  = </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=rrg@unlv.nevada.edu href="mailto:rrg@unlv.nevada.edu">Rob = Goodale</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, July 09, 2004 = 11:54 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Piano from Hell</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I had one of my worst experiences as = a piano technician this morning.  I got a call from a guy who told me his = piano needed tuning and repair.  I agreed to take the job.  Upon = arriving I about fell over.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It turned out to be a 90 year old = "Metropolitan" full upright.  It was the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen = outside of a land fill.  I immediately started in how old the piano was = and probably not worth fixing but he quickly cut me off and in a = heavy British accent told me to "please fix it".  The "thing" had been = painted white.  He was now in the process of painting it gold which he = proudly proclaimed was "restoring the finish".  Chunks of wood were = missing out of the case.  I opened it to find that the action was not even = screwed in place, just laying in the piano.  There was one broken treble = string and the bass strings were black with corrosion.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There was a crack running under the = bass bridge and the apron was loose.  There were broken bridal straps, broken = hammers, and several others that had been previously broken and = reglued with string.  most of the hammer return springs were out of place and = some were missing.  One sharp was missing, the key bushings were worn = out, someone did a poor job at recovering the keys, and the pivot pin on = the sustain pedal had been sheared off completely and the bushing block = was shattered.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He continued on about what a "great = piano" it was as I looked at the sad heap.  I calmly explained that there = was simply nothing left to fix, the piano was dead and what he needed was = a new piano.  He came back with "You Yanks, your all alike.  You = throw anything away.  In England we would never throw out a fine instrument like this!"  Then he bragged about how he KNEW what he = was talking about because HE was a pianist!  (Oh golly silly me, = I should have worshipped his feet on the spot!)  Then he proudly = announced that he bought it from an auction so it MUST be a good piano!  = (Now there's reasoning for you).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I continued to explain that I was = trying to save him money, that it would cost him far more to repair than to replace = it.  He demanded to know how much.  I explained that it would cost = hundreds just to make it produce sound again and even then it would be nothing = but trouble.  "Oh no I don't want to do all that, I just want it REPAIRED, you know, so that it works"!  (Excuse me didn't = I just say that?  Do we need subtitles for this conversation?"  I = then explained that what the piano really needed was a complete restoration = and that would cost at least $10,000.00.  "I'm trying to = save you money, this piano is NOT worth it, you really should consider buying = another piano".  He again reminded me that he was a pianist and that = he knew this piano was worth it and that it really didn't need that much work.  Finally I just told him flat out that I couldn't help him = and that I really didn't have the time to spend three days working on it.  = His disposition continued to get worse as I made a hasty = exit.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Shame on me... after all this guy was = a "pianist" and got it from an auction so he MUST know what he's talking about!</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> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial = size=2></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>