Uprights

[Danny Moore]

OK Dave, that setteles it.  I'm moving to the west coast.  Yesterday, I was the
DJ and at wedding reception at the local Catholic parish hall.  As I was tearing
my equipment down, the custodian struck up a conversation with me, asked what I
did in real life, and subsequently gave me a really nice old upright.  He said
"Man, I wish I had known somebody could do something with these things, I
chopped another one up and put it in the dumpster last week."

Unfortunately, this is a very frequent occurrence down here in Bubbaland.  If
they're real nice and are playable, I'll hall them off for free, otherwise, I
charge 50% of my regular moving fee to haul it off.  Even more unfortunate, I'm
lucky to get $400 for that real nice old upright - delivered and tuned with a
1-year warranty!  (Yes, that's after any repairs.)

Danny Moore
Houston Chapter

DGPEAKE@aol.com wrote:

> Danny,
>
> I agree with you that certain upright pianos are not worth fixing up.  But I
> do know that to find a good used upright that has been reconditioned (hammer
> shaping, bridal straps, center pin checks, regulation, tune etc.) and the
> finish is not bad,  the price starts around $1500 and up.  In our area they
> are selling..
>
> The other day I serviced a piano for a client and found several loose tuning
> pins, some that would not hold pitch.  The finish of the piano was fair, and
> I quoted her around $3200 to restring it, and fix up the action.  You cannot
> not buy a new piano for the quality of what I could put into a used upright,
> and in the end, she has a very good piano to play..
>
> Last year I restrung an Ivers & Pond upright and rebuilt the action.  The
> dealer sold it for almost $4000 and the customer is very happy with the
> piano..
>
> Dave Peake, RPT
> Portland, OR