lost & found

[Dave Nereson]

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    Thanks to Conrad H. for a most amusing list of stuff found in =
pianos.  I love the semi-collectable old trolley tokens, bus tokens, gas =
rationing tokens or stamps, and amusement park ride tokens or tickets =
that I've found.    Found an old tuning mute with Tonk Bros. embossed on =
it.  [Does anybody know the origins of the term "honky-tonk"?]  Also a =
temperament strip, still left in the strings!  Stuff left by factory =
workers:  wood screws, bridge pins, hitch pins, center pins, an =
occasional tuning pin or pin bushing, sawdust, clipped-off tops of =
damper wires; once encountered a bass note where both strings of the =
unison were "dead"  -- turned out the 2 strings of that note were glued =
together by a dropped glob of glue; I flicked it off, tuned 'em up, and =
they were OK.   Same piano (Kincaid) had non-sounding strings because =
the damper felt was glued to the strings.
    But one of the worst cases of sticking keys I found was because the =
parakeet cage was too close to the piano and everytime he ate or =
scratched around, birdseed and its shells would fall in between the keys =
-- birdseed is about exactly the size of the spaces between keys.  Major =
binding.
     Once opened a bottom panel in the presence of twin daughters to =
find a dead mouse.  One girl exclaimed, "Eeeeewwww!!!!" and went running =
out of the room while her twin ran up and said, "Oooh, lemme see!"
      And one of the most entertaining complaints of sticking keys (to =
me, that is -- the owner, however, was horrified and grossed out) was =
finding under the fallboard and under the keys of a spinet, and =
distributed all throughout the action, an entire bag of dogfood, carried =
morsel by morsel into the piano by diligent mice, through the pedal =
holes, since dogfood littered the entire bottom board also.  It =
literally looked like somebody opened the lid and poured in a 10 lb. =
bag. =20
    Then last year the choir director at a high school decided to use =
the 6 ft. Kawai as the snack and condiment table for an after-concert =
party, and he knocked a whole bottle of salsa down onto the tuning pins, =
strings, dampers, action, keys, back rail cloth, and keybed.  It dripped =
all down the damper wires -- everywhere.  Fortunately, it scraped off =
fairly easily in some places after it dried and hardened, coming off in =
large flakes.  But the smell was almost like puke, and it was quite =
time-consuming to get it all off.   I'm sure the vinegar in it didn't =
help the metal parts or chrome any. =20
    One last one:  found an old upright once that must've had a terrible =
soundboard rattle, or maybe they just thought it was too loud, and to =
quiet it, they stuffed maybe 6 months worth of daily newspapers between =
the strings and soundboard and between the board and the backposts.  It =
just kept coming and coming.  I'd never seen the likes.    Takes all =
kinds. . . .               --David Nereson, RPT, Denver




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