Butterfly Grand

[Delwin D Fandrich]

JIMRPT@aol.com wrote:
> 
> List;
>   I have been asked to look at a Wurlitzer Butterfly Grand for restoration.
>   After explaing to the customer that the cost might well outweigh the value
> of the instrument, the customer said she wants the evaluation anyway.
>   The last one of this type I tuned must have been five years ago and the
> last one I did any repair work on must have been fifteen or more years ago.
>   Other than staying away from this thing; does anyone have any specific
> suggestions as to what to look out for ?  I know this is a very general type
> question.
> Jim Bryant (FL)

Jim,

It’s been too long since I’ve worked on one to offer much specific
advice about the Butterfly, but please allow me to get a bit
philosophical. I know you already  know all this stuff, but once in a
while it does me some good to get something like this of this off my
chest. 

You’re going to get a lot of advice telling you how you should tell the
owner what a terrible piano/piece of junk/abomination/blight on the
piano industry/etc. he or she has. And how you should run, don’t walk,
away from it and them as fast as you can. Please permit me to offer
another view. 

I’m not sure our customers want to be told about our problems. They
already have a problem: It’s sitting there in front of them in the form
of a piano that doesn’t work. They’ve called on you to help them solve
their problem, not make it worse. They don’t want to be told how stupid
it is to try to fix this piece of junk. They don’t want to be told what
a rotten piece of junk it’s going to be after you’ve finished. I even
doubt that they want hear you say the finished product will sound worse
than a Whitney spinet. Surely they already know they don’t have a
Steinway D? If they have had this piano for any length of time, they
probably remember its “better” days. They may well have a very realistic
idea of its potential. We owe it to them to approach their problem in
the most businesslike manner possible. I’ve been at this business over
thirty years; I’ve met very few stupid piano owners. Mostly they’re
uninformed, ill-informed or misinformed. It’s our job to make them just
plain informed.

Certainly, you should be honest with them (not brutally so, but with
tact and some degree of professionalism) about the current technical
condition of the instrument (leaving out all of the emotional hyperbole
we’re prone to so freely express). You should inform them as accurately
as possible about what work is needed to repair/rebuild their piano. You
should probably be prepared to present them with several options ranging
from a minor reconditioning up to a complete restoration. And, you
should be prepared to honestly (again, without emotion) discuss with
them what they can expect in return for their money. A professional
description will do—if you must make comparisons, a simple before and
after comparison should suffice: 
“Yes, ma’am, rebuilding the action will take care of all of those
rattles and clicks that you hear.” 
“Yes, sir. We can replace that pinblock. In fact the pinblock material
we use is bonded together using a totally waterproof adhesive, it will
never separate like the original did.” 
“Yes, the bass strings in this piano are quite short, and that certainly
does limit the tone potential of this piano through the bass section.
However, even that can be improved a little bit by using modern string
scaling techniques. While it will never be a concert grand, it can
certainly be improved beyond what you hear now.“
“Yes, ma’am, a full restoration of this instrument will cost $11,800 and
we’ve discussed what you would get for your money. But, before you make
your decision to go ahead with this project, are you aware of what you
could purchase in the way of another, possibly better, instrument for
that amount of money? You could probably find...”

Well, you get the idea.

As to pricing… Well, we all work on a time and materials basis, don’t
we. Why treat this piano any differently? Or are we trying to punish the
owner for possessing what WE consider to be an inferior instrument?
Figure out your hours (including engineering time, if necessary),
materials (including those you may have to fabricate), add in a fudge
factor if you feel it is necessary (I usually allow myself a 10% leeway
on a job like this, and FULLY explain that to my customer) and present
them with the options. It will then be their responsibility to make a
now INFORMED decision about whether or not they want to invest that much
money in what THEY may then decide is a losing proposition. If after all
of this THEY ultimately decide to go ahead, at least they’ll feel good
about dealing with you, and both of you will fully understand in advance
what to expect when you are finished.

Finally, if they do decide to have you work on it, then you owe it them
to do the best job possible to bring their instrument back into playable
condition. In the workshop, it shouldn’t matter if it is a Wurlitzer
Butterfly Grand or a Steinway D or a Whitney Spinet. They all get the
same level of craftsmanship (and I do hope no one is offended if I flee
from “craftspersonship”)

Sorry if I ramble a bit much, but there; I said it and I’m glad!

ddf