Destroying old and floating pianos

[DaveAAAP@AOL.COM]

  This post answers two questions:
  The first is that pianos, at least the grands I saw in the flood a few 
years ago in Macon, Georgia do float belly up...like a dead fish.  One was 
once a very nice Kawai around 7' with a polyester finish.  A local retailer 
picked it up free for just hauling it away.  They dried it out in the back 
room over a period of about a year or so and were planning on slapping some 
black paint over the peeling veneer and hoisting it up on the roof of their 
store.  They thought it would be a great conversation piece.
  This was about the time when I first entered the field of Piano Technology 
looking to learn all I could.  Larry Crabb in Atlanta advised me that to 
learn quickly, I ought to find a grand piano in the worst imaginable shape 
and fix it.  I'm sure glad I didn't talk that music store out of it, but I 
still do think about that piano once in a while.
  Second, I felt sorry for a severely handicapped lady in Portland who wanted 
me to fix her termite infested birdcage piano from England.  She had picked 
it up from a neighbor who was leaving it on the corner when moving.  She paid 
a couple of guys to move it into her trailer and called me to fix a couple of 
keys that the fronts had "fallen off" of.
  The keys were half gone!  She mentioned that she had spent hours vacuuming 
"sawdust" out of her piano and I knew it was termites before I even reached 
the piano.  Little "flying ants" were all over her house.  I had to declare 
last rites.  In her case, it was critical to get rid of the piano ASAP.
  I'm sure I'll spark a little controversy over my recommendation, but 
because of her condition, I told her to put it in the paper, "To give away.  
U Haul".  These ads are usually placed for free, so she wouldn't have to 
spend any more money on that disaster.  In Macon, Georgia all you would have 
to do to get rid of it was put it by the curb and it would be gone by the 
next morning.
  The customer was extremely happy that I came and made the recommendations I 
did, and I did charge her the minimum service call.  Who knows, I may get 
another call for fixing a couple of keys that the fronts had "fallen off" of, 
but at least I'll be a little wiser next time.

Dave Streit
AAA Piano Service
Portland, OR