<html>  <head><style type='text/css'> p { margin: 0px; } </style></head> <body>  <P>Gee Rob, It makes that Whitney spinet I pulled the action on to install bridle wires and straps last week seem like a treasure.</P> <P> </P> <P>Rick Ucci/Ucci Piano<BR></P> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message from "Rob Goodale" <RRG@UNLV.NEVADA.EDU>: -------------- <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> <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>