<!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 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><SPAN class=828005703-10072004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2>Those
are the exact people who use my services. You should have sold him =
the
$10,000. restoration. I agree that he would not be happy with a =
refurbish
even if you put in a new bass bridge and new bass strings. Here in =
middle
America a total job is usually only about $6,000 but when I get done, my =
customers cherish the old piano as if it were built by =
Stradivarius. It
will continue to give good service to a practicing concert pianist for =
another
50 years.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=828005703-10072004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=828005703-10072004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2>There
seem to be so few of us willing to restore these old chestnuts out there =
that
people send us pianos from all over the country to get our total
treatment. I agree with your customer AND with you. It is =
worn out
and a dead piano but yes it has great potential. You can't ignore =
the
wonderful sound that is trying to get out of that decrepit old piano =
shaped
object.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<P><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>D.L. =
Bullock
St. Louis<BR></FONT></STRONG><A
href="http://www.thepianoworld.com/"><STRONG><FONT
face=Arial>www.thepianoworld.com</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT =
color=#000000><FONT
face=Arial><STRONG> </STRONG><SPAN =
class=828005703-10072004><FONT
color=#0000ff size=2> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT color=#000000><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
class=828005703-10072004> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT =
size=2><FONT
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Rob Goodale
[mailto:rrg@unlv.nevada.edu]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, July 09, 2004 10:55 =
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech<BR><B>Subject:</B> Piano from =
Hell<BR></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><SPAN class=828005703-10072004><FONT
color=#0000ff> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN =
class=828005703-10072004> </SPAN>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></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<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>