From PSO to Gold!

Robert Goodale rrg@unlv.edu
Thu, 4 Sep 2003 19:26:49 -0700


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I just finished closing the mother of all piano deals!  I received a =
phone call from a friend who works for a local dealer.  A guy was =
looking for a grand piano- ANY grand piano, to use for "prepared piano" =
experimental recordings.  He didn't want to pay much, so the dealer =
didn't have anything for him.  He was referred to me since I just =
happened to have the perfect specimen for this fellow's needs.

The piano: a 1923 Wurlitzer baby grand.  It had been sitting in a damp =
salty garage 2 miles from the California central coast for 15 years, a =
real rust bucket with at least ten major cracks in the soundboard, loose =
ribs, pressure ridges, loose pins, dirt everywhere1  The finish was a =
crazed cracked up mess.  I had taken the piano for free and brought it =
to Las Vegas nearly a year ago without much careful examination.  It =
wasn't until later that I realized how bad it really was, and the Nevada =
14% humidity didn't help much.  Recently I began contemplating where I =
might find a good dumpster for it and how I was going to get it there.

I spoke with the gentleman on the phone a few days ago, and almost =
joking I explained that I had something that might work for him.  He =
said he only cared about the bass notes, that they had to be able to =
produce a "good dead thud".  Well, as old and corroded as these were, it =
would certainly foot the bill!  I told him to give me a few days to set =
it up and see what could be done with it.
=20
Once on it's feet, I discovered it to be caked with thick dirt =
everywhere inside.  The soundboard was black and the strings were as =
rusty as could be.  The action was nearly frozen, and the hammers were =
flatter than an iron.  I took everything apart and spent a good hour =
blowing and vacuuming pounds of dirt.  I used a stiff wire brush and =
scrubbed the tuning pins hard, creating an impressive "rust cloud".  I =
tapped down the tuning pins to persuade a little torque and tightened =
every screw I could find, (most at least one full turn!)  I spent a half =
day shaping the hammers, lubing centerpins, leveling keys, (on rusty key =
pins), and replaced two wippens.  Behold, after two tunings and a lot of =
frustration, this PSO actually made a sound that "pretended" to be a =
piano.

This evening the guy came over to look at it and was ecstatic.... SOLD, =
$800.00!!  Now that is what I call trash to treasure!!

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV
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