Butterflies and such

[Delwin D Fandrich]

rmartin21@juno.com wrote:
> 
> Del
> 
> I don't really believe any of the guys or gals inferred that Jim should
> actually SAY those things to a customer. Most of us know Jim well enough
> to well assured that he would be more than courteous and informative with
> his customer.

I'm sure you're right and perhaps I came off a little strong. And I
certainly wasn't suggesting that Jim would say any of those things to a
customer. I was reacting--perhaps over-reacting--to an attitude I've run
into all too often over the years. Unfortunately, not everyone has the
discretion that Jim has. I've run across to many piano owners over the
years who have been told some of these things by technicians. In fact,
I'm going out to see one next week...

> Rather, the dialogue, including my own, was a humorous way of saying that
> he wouldn't get much of a feeling of satisfaction after finishing the job
> that he might well have gotten from working on a better piano. You know
> the proverb about the sow's ear.

Some of the biggest challanges I've faced in my working life have
involved getting good music out of very small or mediocre instruments.
It's hard to get bad sound out of a nine foot piano--though it has been
done. It's more challanging, and in some ways more rewarding, to get
good sound out of a small or poor quality piano. But I do understand
that not everyone is as nuts as I am.

> I don't believe that many of us are in this business for the dollar.

I wasn't either, but my family kept having this unrealistic expectation
of having something to eat every day.

> There are certainly a lot of easier and better ways of making it. Most, I
> believe, are in it for the satisfaction gleaned from making the instrument 
> perform and sound at it's very best to the limit of our competance. 
> Some pianos , unfortunately, do not furnish us with the amount of satisfaction in 
> proportion to the work outlay.

I hope it is not impossible to have some of both. Our rate sheet, that
is, our hourly rate and mark-up for parts and materials, etc., is the
same no matter what the type or quality level of the instrument is. We
try to get the same results out every job we tackle. In other words, we
try to get the most music out of each instrument that it is capable of.
Personally, I would get a fair amount of personal satisfaction out of
taking a trashed Butterfly and making it into a piano. True, it wouldn't
be a "Killer B," but still...

> The tough part about writing something huorous is that the recipient
> doesn't always KNOW when you're kidding. I think most of the folks WERE!
> In all humor, however, there is always a thread of truth. And there is
> some truth to what they were saying.

Yes, I'm sure you're right. Well, I never did say I was to old and run
down to get my foot in my mouth on occasion.

ddf