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<DIV align=left>Rob,</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>You were able to walk away from it. =
Remember the time when you would have actually tried to work on=
it...? </DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>David I.</DIV>
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<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original message=
----------------------------------------><BR>From: Rob=
Goodale <<A=
href="mailto:rrg@unlv.nevada.edu">rrg@unlv.nevada.edu</A>><BR=
>To: Pianotech <<A=
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>><BR>Rec=
eived: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 10:54:40 -0500<BR>Subject: Piano from=
Hell</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR>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>
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