cracking up?

[Ron Torrella]

On Wed, 7 Jun 1995 Djrue@aol.com wrote:

> I am hoping for some advise on a recent problem. A client has an older
> upright in basically playable condition except for the tuning. The plate has
> a crack near the treble break that starts at a tuning pin & terminates at a
> plate bolt below the pressure bar. The whole piano is about 50cents low & is
> even lower in the treble above the crack. Should I attempt to tune this
> piano? What are the possible consequences?  Is there any sort of relatively
> cheap fix? The client has little money & cannot afford to replace the piano
> at this time.
> Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

This is exactly the type of piano I refer to either my assistant (who
usually knows a goat when he sees one and passes) or my apprentice (who
still doesn't know any better, bless her heart!).  In any case, this sort
of "handy-man special" is invariably a time-hog and perhaps a time-bomb.
I have a token customer with almost the same piano (no cracks in the
plate, the soundboard is another story) for whom I grant a special
price.  No, I don't scalp the living daylights out of her.  Matter of
fact, the fee she pays is the first fee I ever charged professionally.
Part of the logic is that this piano sort of reminds me where I started
(those ceiling-height verticals at Michigan State loom large in my
memory!).  Also, the woman who owns the instrument is so confounded proud
of its heritage--it was passed down through several generations--that she
drags out the original sales receipt *every time* I come to tune it!
She's a sweet woman.  Can't say no.

Oh, and she doesn't mind that the piano's 1/2 step flat.  As long as it
plays right and sounds in tune, that's just fine with her. :-)

Ron Torrella
School of Music         ** STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY **
University of Illinois