Too much, (was bridge gain delamination)

[robert goodale]

$4,500 is too much money to pay for a 32 year old Kawai 350 in need of bridge work.  I
would suggest that either the client bargains the price down to cover the bridge work
or find another piano to buy.

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV


J Patrick Draine wrote:

> Dear List:
> I just returned from a piano evaluation, for a customer looking to buy a (32 year
> old) small model 350 Kawai grand, walnut veneer, for $4500. Everything looked AOK
> EXCEPT:
> the bridge gain (cf. Mason, he also calls it the bridge core; I'd call it the
> bridge body) is separating along the diagonal joint 3-4 notes above the
> tenor/treble break. There's minor cracking of the bridge surface at the bridge
> pins, but there's clearly been some glue joint failure at the joint in the body of
> the bridge (the sides of the bridge are no longer flush, the joint line is too
> prominent). No tonal deficiencies because of it (yet).
> I'm (optimistically) thinking I could fix this in the home by running screws with
> washers through the separated parts, soak epoxy into the slight but real
> separation, etc. I'm hoping that with 2-3 sessions the bridge should be AOK.
> Have any of you had success with this kind of repair on other Asian pianos (I've
> seen this as a problem area on all of their long bridges)?
> Or should I tell my customer to back out of the deal?
> Comments, Jim Jon Ron Roger et al?