Stieff upright

[Susan Kline]

At 07:36 AM 5/24/2002 -0400, Terry wrote:
>All right now. We have crossed the line. Starr. No way. I service a number 
>of these. I bought a 1912 Starr and learned (kinda) to tune on it. A lady 
>wanted to buy it from me, but I refused (just did not want to be 
>associated with junk-selling of that caliber). A few weeks ago I tore it 
>apart so that I could cut up the soundboard and play with it. Whereas it 
>is clearly not a cheaply made as some low-end PSOs of the 60s and 70s, it 
>is not a heavily built piano. Pretty much square cut everywhere and 
>minimal glue used. A couple whacks with a 2 x 4 and that rascal was in 497 
>pieces.
>
>Nope, I recommend scratching "Starr" off any list of quality uprights! JMHO!

I struggled with one of these things for years, before the church gave up 
on it and traded it in for a decent (serviceable) used Everett. Starr was 
very disappointing. Looked like a good big old upright, but the treble was 
very false and went out of tune within a day or two, over and over. I 
fiddled with the bridge pins and wire to no avail. I finally told them to 
stop wasting their money having me tune it (and touch it up, over and 
over.) Not usual behavior for a big, not-bad-looking 1903 piano.

Maybe we should have an anti-list? The 10 most disappointing old big 
upright brands? Kingsbury, Starr, Janssen? It would be misleading, since 
most big old pianos aren't all that bad, unless they've been mistreated.

Susan