In a message dated 4/10/99 6:14:20 PM Central Daylight Time, jformsma@dixie-net.com writes: << Greetings. Today I had someone drive to my house from about 50 miles away to see if I would work on a piano they have. They don't have a phone. ??? Anyway, the piano is a Justin Browne, made in London according to the label. The Pierce Piano Atlas has but one listing--->1870-1910. Does anyone here have any experience with them? From what they said, it is a rosewood piano, and there are 13 notes not working. (They were working on it themselves, and I wondered if I would have to eat my words to the list written hours ago that I worked on just about any piano. :-) ) I may regret it, but I suppose I'll have a look at it when I am going to be in the area next. If you have any knowledge, it would be helpful to know something about the piano. This is the first time that I've ever heard the name. Thanks in advance. John Formsma >> The last time someone asked about a "birdcage" action piano, it started a war that is still going on now. The respondent was an older guy who is like many on the List who freely insult any kind of piano they feel is beneath their dignity. He would have you believe that he is one of the privileged who only work on grands and only the best of those. He enjoys making himself feel like the old sage and having you feel inferior by spouting all kinds of knowledgeable sounding, esoteric seeming comments without really giving any information you can use. If you have a problem with a piano that you don't understand, that's because it's a "PSO". You should be working on Steinway D's, not Betsy Ross Spinets, you idiot! Therefore, he came up with the cute, little phrase, "Birdcages are for the birds!" Just as I did to the person who thinks it's perfectly fine to write something like, "regulation is not something I identify vertical Kimballs as being subjected to in any great detail, at the factory", even though he knows that this is insulting to technicians who work on these kinds of pianos for a living, to people who own this make of piano and to people who are still in the piano business who once worked at that factory, I told him the remark was inappropriate and gave advice to the technician who was inquiring. What followed from him and others has to be seen to be believed. Pure garbage, vulgarity, words of bigotry, intolerence, hatred and obsenities. The piano you are talking about is very likely not serviceable. This means that you will probably not be able to tune it or get it to even play in anywhere near the timeframe that you would allow for a piano service appointment. A "birdcage" action piano is called that because the unusual overdamper configuration reminds one of a birdcage. An overdamper is one that has a damper wire that reaches over the hammer and damps on top of it. You have probably seen some verticals that have a few on the lowest notes in the tenor. Steinway is one make that has them. They are usually found on the better made uprights. In the "birdcage" action piano, all of the dampers are made that way. This makes them very difficult to work on compared to what you usually are used to. You can't use mutes the way you usually do. If the piano were in really good working order, there would really be no reason for you to turn it down if you are looking for work and want something to fill out your schedule. You'd just have to plan on spending more time and you might be able to negotiate a higher than usual fee because of that alone. However, this piano is first and foremost, very old. It was built in a country with a different climate and according to different standards than those built in North America. By this time, it is very likely to have suffered serious structural damage such as a delaminated or separated pinblock, severely cracked, deteriorated and separated soundboard and probably also has action parts which are either very brittle or coming apart and unglued. These action parts are also different from what you are used to. Sometimes, people buy such a piano from an antique dealer who believes that the piano has true antique value. Some of them have beautiful veneers and case designs. The dealer may be aware that the piano needs some repair but so do most antiques. Some antique collecters don't care that an item is not functional and have no intention of repairing it, much like a museum may accept and keep an item in the condition it was found for whatever reason. Therefore, you can't assume that anyone is to blame for someone acquiring such a piano and expecting that a few keys might be repaired, the piano tuned and afterwards there will be a beautiful, old, musical instrument from another time and country. I have seen such a situation several times over the years. I have also never seen more unhappy customers than those to whom I must say that the piano is virtually worthless. Therefore, this is one job that you might just want to not pursue. The same issues will probably apply to most any square grand you may be called about, although most of those were made in America. However, you might also find that it is really not in such bad shape and with some good, solid practice of basic piano technology skills, you can have a piano that plays reasonably well and will hold a tune, maybe even at standard pitch. You should approach such a piano with the idea that it is doubtful but a conclusion cannot be drawn without you seeing and inspecting it. You might want to schedule only a service call for a set fee that the customer agrees to for an Appraisal/Evaluation. Since this one is far away, it would really be best if you did that when you are in the area. You might plan on and limit yourself to 30 minutes. If you do find something that you can work with and you need the work, it may well be something that takes a full day or more and the issue of driving 50 miles won''t be so much of a consideration. It's up to you. Now, I, myself would not be interested in such a challenge because like many on the List, I have worked long and hard enough that I can do without the frustration that this kind of job is very likely to present. I'd much rather work on a nice piano in a nice home in the suburbs where I can park the car in the large driveway and walk out less than an hour later with a premium tuning fee in my pocket. You have to decide whether this is in your economic interest and if you think you might learn and improve your skill from such an experience. But you don't need to listen to nor be intimidated by the "good ol' boy" attitude that prevails among some on the List. Many of those who made such insulting, degrading and demeaning remarks a daily practice formed a new list a while back under the auspices of an organization known as the Master Piano Technicians of America. That group was founded by people who were disgruntled with PTG for various reasons but for many, it was the issue of actually having to take an exam to prove competency. A little less than 20 years ago, their president was from my home town, Madison, Wisconsin. He was the biggest buffoon you could ever imagine. I would describe him as a cross between the Wizard of Oz and Archie Bunker. Yet, he had a lot of piano customers in this town suckered real good. People spoke of him as the ultimate authority on any piano question or issue. He was responsible for the notion many people around here had that if you installed a Dampp-Chaser system in a piano that it would "void the warranty". He finally skipped town leaving a dozen or so customers who had given him deposits for the "rebuilding" job he was supposed to do, waiting for their pianos and the poor dupe that worked with him holding the bag. He frequently made judgmental remarks about the kinds of pianos that you, I and the majority of working technicians earn their living on and the kind that the majority of piano owners have. Only the best grands were good enough for him and everything else was "junk". Yet, when he skipped town, he left a trail of destruction, difficult to imagine, due to neglect and incompetent, substandard practices. Even now after well over 10 years, the effects of his behavior still plague the community. When I see the same kind of comments and attitude displayed by people on this List, I think of what I have seen and learned by experience. I fully realize that there are good, competent technicians who have found something they like in MPT and so have joined it but I have also seen that virtually everyone who tosses around the kind of flippant remarks that are truly an embarrassment to the piano service profession are also those who created the MPT Talklist and belong to MPT or associate with it by participating on its list. For that reason, I personally would never associate myself with that group. There is a serious lack of any kind of professional standard in its very structure. I say these things not to indict any particular person. I just wonder if some people who really don't need the kind of potential negative influence that is there might be drawn into it out of naivety. It's easy to find acceptance in the lowest common denominator among a group of "good ol' boys". Sincerely, Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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