covers

[John Minor]

Richard: I would not suggest using covers on pianos that are not
controlled by staff, ie. Pianos that are put away, or kept locked when not
in use. The covers from Oregon run about $450 and are the best, but if
people don't keep them on they won't do much good. Choose your battles....

I've not tried string covers. Maybe I should. I still struggle to keep the
temp under control and have gone to the administration with read-outs from
the hygrothermograph to illustrate the wide swings in temp/humidity. They
do seem to take note of the graphics. I've just ordered the digital temp
monitoring deviceds described here last month. We'll see what kind of
results we can get with these. 

John Minor
University of Illinois

PS. I'm surprised they were able to hire you as ACADEMIC/PROFESSIONAL.
There is a civil service position in the state of Illinois for piano tech.
My predecessors attempted to change the position here to AC/PRO with no
luck.


On Thu, 14 Sep 2000, Murphy Mail wrote:

]John, Hi, my name is Richard Murphy. I am the new piano tech at SIUE.  
]I have inherited a worn down situation.  Too much neglect for to many
]years.  I want to insure that the newest instruments are cared for and
]want to purchase good quality covers for the grands that are used daily
]by all kinds of groups.  In the past they have all had covers (so I'm
]told) but only a few are remaining none of which actually fit the pianos
]they cover.  Dennis Haley from Oregon suggested I contact you about his
]custom made covers.  I need some ammunition to take to our chair for
]approval.  My plan is to budget these covers for next year and purchase
]five to eight, 2 or 3 nine footers, and the rest seven footers.  Also do
]you use string covers to help control humidity?  I want to also purchase
]some D.C. systems for these same pianos to at least help stabilize them
]better.  I know it will never be perfect until the college dose
]something major to control the humidity, but that will probably not
]happen in our lifetimes.
]    By the way, I am professional Staff not civil service, but I don't know what difference that makes except maybe the music dept. has control of my duties. Thanks, Richard Murphy,RPT, SIUE
]