Terry, It's good to have a supply of used ivories on hand. If you can't get some from someone else, Schaff used to sell them by the dozen; maybe they still do. I always tell the customer I won't be able to get an exact match, although in a few cases I got very close. Show them what it will look like before you glue them on and get their okay. Chances are they will be satisfied if they are warned in advance, but hopefully you can get at least reasonably close. I glue them on with contact cement; make sure it's lined up right the first time! You can get imitation ivory heads from Vagias Ventures (724 869-2842) in several different sizes and color tones. I got some last summer, and I guess they'll do in a pinch, but in my opinion they don't match very well and look fake. When I quote a price, I include the retail cost of the keytop plus my normal hourly rate, considering time for finding matching ivories, preparing the surface, etc. If you're not doing a tuning at the same time, you need to charge something for making the visit to the home. Regards, Clyde Hollinger Charly Tuner wrote: > Hi all, > > got a call from a lady today asking if I could replace TWO lost keytops on > an old vertical. I have not yet seen the piano, but from her description, > they may be ivory. The white keytops are 2-piece and that is why I think > they might be ivory. Only the front pieces are missing. Can I replace them > with non ivory and have them match reasonably well? The old keys are most > likely somewhat yellowed as well. Since I have never done this before, I > have no idea what to charge, so I could use some advice in this area too. > Thanks! > > Terry Peterson > Los Angeles, CA > Associate Member, PTG > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC