Word to the wise - brittle plastic

[John Ross]

Hi Clyde,
In a similar situation, I explained the procedure and cost, to replace
all the plastic pieces. They thought it was worth it, as the piano had
sentimental value. It happened to be a Heintzman.
I did the work, they were satisfied, and I got paid. We are after all
in the business of piano repair.
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Clyde Hollinger" <cedel@supernet.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 8:08 AM
Subject: Word to the wise - brittle plastic


> Friends,
>
> Yes, I knew about the brittle plastic flanges, backchecks and jacks
in
> this 1949 Gordon Laughead spinet.  I had already dealt with the
thing in
> 91, 92, 95 and 97.  What possesses a normally sane person like me to
be
> willing to work on this piano *again*?
>
> It's a long story, but in any case I agreed to tune and repair it,
after
> clearly warning the lady that I may break additional parts in the
> process of making repairs.  She said she understood and was willing
to
> pay, so I scheduled the job.
>
> When I arrived two jacks were broken, A1 and A4, and the D#5 damper
> lever wouldn't damp properly because the flange was broken.  I
removed
> the action and got the two jacks replaced okay.  And I thought I
should
> be able to replace the D#5 damper without causing further harm, but
no
> such luck.  All I had to do was *look* at a flange and it would
break.
> So I had to replace the two neighboring flanges to the left, then
put
> the action back in the piano.  That's when I noticed that A4 had had
not
> only a broken jack but also a broken damper flange.  Grrrr!  I
wasn't
> surprised that, as I fixed that flange, the G#4 flange went, but the
> felt was crooked enough to damp well enough to not be obnoxious, so
I
> quit.
>
> Oh yes, the piano was almost sitting on top of a large floor vent,
which
> was spouting a high level of heat!  We talked about that, too, and I
> wrote on the invoice, "Too close to the heat to stay in tune."  The
> piano sounded terrible when I was finished but was greatly improved
over
> the way it was when I arrived.
>
> I hope I have the courage never to touch this piano again.  The lady
was
> satisfied, didn't get bent out of shape over the bill, and I was
happy
> to be driving out of the driveway.  For the newbies out there, be
sure
> to give all your disclaimers before you start on such beasties, or
> everyone is going to be mad by the time you walk out the door.
>
> Peace,
> Clyde
>
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