<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1126" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan, I'm really sorry you encountered = this. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Unfortunately, there = are a lot of people out there passing themselves off as piano technicians, but = they aren't. If they were, they'd probably be on this list. But then, there = are a lot of piano tuners out there who are told that they must give the customer = the most "bang for the buck" that they can. The customer then thinks that the = piano has been totally "re-whatevered". I mean, what does it take to give a = customer rebushed keys? $80? You only try to turn them if you're working on the = cheap, which most of us would not do, as it will end up as a poor reflection on = our craftsmanship. Mediocrity is cumulative. The original tech should have = given a better quote to the customer. But perhaps they did, they just forgot = about it!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Just my 2 cents = worth. It's hard to educate the entire world!</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=tune4u@earthlink.net href="mailto:tune4u@earthlink.net">tune4u@earthlink.net</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 09, 2002 = 7:30 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Ripoffs of Tooners = & Ravages of Age</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Called to a magnificently and beautifully = refinished 1890 B. Shoninger upright (serial 12373). What a work of art. Many = quality features evident in the design of the action, etc.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad the soundboard is all cracked = up.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad the hammers are shot.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad mice have chewed up several = keybuttons. (Isn't that agnawing!)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad the action is so worn and = fragile.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad the strings are totally = rusted.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad the pinblock has only 10-20 inch-lbs torque</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad some tooner "completely rebuilt" this = piano for the owner's mother about five years ago (He did replace the flat = damper felts, rest rail felt, and 8 hammer-butts, apparently).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Too bad he (or someone) turned all the front = rail pins about 30 degrees to compensate (?) for the slop in the = slots.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>This is the second time I've been called to a = piano AFTER they have labored long and hard to restore the case ... only to = find the guts are mess.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Now I know what that thread on condemning = pianos was all about. It was painful to pronounce PSO on this one. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Alan Barnard</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Upright Undertaker from Salem, MO</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>