Barbara,
Your right. Losing a contract is always a possibility. Is
there ever a point when you've done all you can do though? At some point
you can have a lot of years and efforts invested in rigging a concert
instrument to minimum adequacy and suddenly lose your contract to
someone who they believe can restore the piano to its full potential.
Maybe they'll figure you've done the best you can do and its time to try
someone better. Unfortunately this is not a practice room piano. A poor
performing concert instrument may at some point reflect negatively on
the technician. When that point comes and to what degree you are
perceived as responsible is up to you, and also in some ways completely
out of your control. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that
this piano was restrung using the old animal glue block. These old
blocks never seem to survive more than 6-7 years max after repining. My
instinct also tells me that there are numerous other issues here. A
little research could produce a list of generous alumni and other
philanthropists. Perhaps in an instance such as this one could find
someone with fond memories of college and an urgent need for a tax write
off.
You see to begin patching and rigging a concert instrument is to
accept defeat and surrender before ever stepping foot on the
battlefield. First plan your strategy of victory before writing terms of
surrender. There IS money available for a full restoration or
replacement of this piano. If you REALLY want to be the hero,
concentrate your efforts to that end first. This is, after all, a school
in West Virginia, home of Senator Robert Byrd and a billion dollar
atomic clock.
Joseph D. Gotta RPT
-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Barbara Richmond
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 2:31 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Consultants, was CA for loose pins on a "D"?
Jeff, Joseph,
Of course, we are the consultants *and* educators. But withholding
services can backfire--the school or institution can always get a second
opinion. I came by a very nice position because another technician was
doing exactly that. (Sorry, no details, it's a long story and not
appropriate for publication.) My point is if you've done all you can
for an
instrument, you've done all you can--and then nature can take its
course.
Barbara Richmond, RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Tanner" <jtanner@mozart.sc.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Consultants, was CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>I agree with Joseph here. There is no one -- not one person at your
>university - who is serving as a piano inventory consultant unless it
is
>us. That should be a part of each of our job descriptions. Who are we
>going to leave consultation up to if it is not to the experts? We are
>indeed the "senior consultants". If we are not being viewed as such,
there
>is a serious problem in the system.
>
> Jeff T
>
>
>
> On Sunday, April 17, 2005, at 09:06 AM, Joseph D. Gotta, RPT wrote:
>
>> OK, I wasn't so much encouraging, 'forcing the hand of the school' as
>> avoiding ENABLING them to continue ignoring a crippled failing
concert
>> instrument while they continue to allocate funds to million dollar
>> landscaping projects. Yes CA glue will make the piano tunable but
what
>> about the loose bridge pins, cracked soundboard, excessive false
beats,
>> etc... As a university technician your job of course is 'to help an
>> instrument hold the tune' but also to guide them in the direction of
>> excellence. Patching and rigging a concert instrument for minimum
>> adequacy runs the risk of underestimating the desire and ability of
the
>> school to achieve that high degree of excellence. The old saying
>> 'necessity is the mother of invention' comes to mind. Numerous times
>> I've seen institutions suddenly 'find' the means to do what needs to
be
>> done, or patrons step up to the challenge and fund new pianos or
rebuild
>> work. Yes communication is important, but sometimes standing back and
>> allowing nature to take its course is one of the most effective tools
we
>> have.
>>
>> Joseph D. Gotta RPT
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
>> Barbara Richmond
>> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 10:41 AM
>> To: College and University Technicians
>> Subject: Re: [CAUT] CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>>
>> I agree on the need for a good instrument, but, I have a bit of a
>> problem
>> with trying to force the hand of the school. Did Cy say the school
is
>> awash
>> in cash? Is there really harm in helping an instrument hold the
tune?
>> I
>> believe as a university technician, my job was (was, because I moved
>> away)
>> to explain the choices available--especially when the choices
involved a
>> lot
>> of money.
>>
>> My recommendation, Cy, is communicate! Explain the situation as best
>> you
>> can. Explain what you *can* or *might be able to accomplish* and
>> include
>> that what you can do is not the end all solution, they had better
start
>> raising the funds for the big fix or purchase--if that is the case.
>> This
>> type of approach sure has turned out to be the road to success for
me.
>>
>> Barbara Richmond, RPT
>> Braden Auditorium at Illinois State University
>>
>> PS I just used CA on a B for a financially strapped institution.
They
>> were
>> extremely happy to have use of the instrument again.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Joseph D. Gotta, RPT
>> To: 'College and University Technicians'
>> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 7:35 AM
>> Subject: RE: [CAUT] CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>>
>>
>>
>> Having said all that, if the piano is in a more
environmentally
>> friendly home now, doing any sort of repair may be doing the college
a
>> disservice as well as shooting yourself in the foot at the same time.
>> The
>> fact of the matter is that the college students need a top of the
line
>> instrument such as this one has the potential to be, the faculty
needs
>> it,
>> and the college is awash in cash to do the job if they decide to
>> adequate
>> the funds. Repairs may only deny the students and faculty a better
>> instrument for an extended period of time. Sometimes allowing them to
>> suffer
>> a poorly performing piano is the right thing to do. It allows them to
>> keep
>> the incentive to do what they both need and can afford, rebuild.
>>
>> Joseph D. Gotta RPT
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Cy
>> Shuster
>> Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 10:20 PM
>> To: CAUT
>> Subject: [CAUT] CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>>
>> I've been studying piano technology for ten years, on and off (I've
>> passed
>> the RPT written exam), and have been tuning professionally for a year
>> and a
>> half. I've applied to North Bennet St. for this fall.
>>
>> I was just asked to take care of an S&S D for a local community
college.
>> It's 1917 vintage (played by Rachmaninoff at one time!), and rebuilt
by
>> Steinway about ten years ago. It's suffering from humidity damage:
8"
>> crack
>> in the soundboard behind and under the treble bridge and elsewhere,
>> false
>> beats in the low tenor (loose bridge pins?), and loose tuning pins in
>> the
>> bass. One or two are so loose I was tempted to mute them, for fear
they
>> wouldn't survive a concert.
>>
>> Of the needed repairs, the only one's I'm qualified to do are to CA
the
>> loose pins, which I've done successfully three times previously.
I'll
>> happily do this on someone's no-name, 100-year-old, 4'8" neonatal
grand
>> with
>> rusty strings, but I want to ask for advice before doing anything
>> irreversible to an instrument of this caliber. I can do the repair
>> without
>> side effects, I'm sure (I pull the action and use copious amounts of
>> plastic
>> tarps), but still...
>>
>> Is the right thing to do to simply write up a report and say that it
>> needs a
>> new pinblock, bridge cap, and at least epoxy in the soundboard
cracks?
>> Or
>> let Steinway re-evaluate it? Is it better to pull the loose pins and
>> shim
>> with sandpaper or veneer rather than risking CA? Will Steinway scoff
if
>> they get a CA'd pinblock to replace?
>>
>> Side note: it has a disassembled DC system... sigh...
>>
>> --Cy Shuster--
>> Bluefield, WV
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>>
>>
> Jeff Tanner, RPT
> School Of Music
> University of South Carolina
>
> _______________________________________________
> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>
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