Halt Piano Work!

[Farrell]

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Interesting question. My minimum is a spinet or console that is in fair =
regulation and functions reasonably well. I think that is pretty minimal =
and I know it leave much grey area. But it does exclude the old upright =
with 800,000 miles on it with keys wobbling all over and action banging =
and clanking all around. But when the darn thing doesn't function, and =
it ain't going to function in this world, ya just gotta call it that =
way!

I'd sure be interested in anything anyone could say that is more =
definitive. Again, we are talking about a beginner student here.

Terry Farrell
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Richard Brekne=20
  Subject: Re: Halt Piano Work!


  SNIP

  Just where should we draw the line eh ??  =20

  Farrell wrote:=20

    I had a new experience yesterday. I refused to work on a piano =
because of its deterioration status. Went to appt. to pitch raise, tune =
and fix a couple keys on a Sohmer console that was recently purchased =
used for $250. Piano was about 40 years old. Lady told me last owner had =
stored it in garage for years. Several keys were sticking. Open piano =
and saw 1/4-inch pinblock/frame separation. Action & keys seems sluggish =
and keys way-unlevel. Dampers oinking like they were being run over =
slooooowly by a steamroller. Otherwise, piano seemed to be in one piece. =
Told lady between pinblock, 150-cent pitch raise, tuning, and minor =
action work, she would be looking easily at $500-plus. I recommended =
that she replace the piano. She said "child is only 4 yo, surely we can =
just put $200 into it so he can plunk on it to see if he takes to piano. =
If he does well, I'll be happy to buy him a new piano." I told her piano =
teachers tell me that the best way to make sure a child fails is to =
provide him a poor-performing piano. But OK, we can tune it at pitch and =
try and free up the keys/action for $200. I should mention that all this =
is occurring in a brand new $500K house in a brand new subdivision with =
a brand new Lexus SUV in driveway and piano is in toy room with about =
$5K worth of toy trains, planes and automobiles scattered about........ =
Got to work, freed up a couple jacks, etc. in action, then started on =
sticking keys. Found that the key pins were rusty at the key balance =
hole. Key buttons started falling off. Key bushings started falling out. =
Several of the keys had to be pried off the balance rail pin they were =
so corroded to it. I told her that she needed the pins replaced and =
without doing that, I was forced to do the improper fix of =
over-enlarging the key balance rail hole. I recommended to her that she =
replace the piano. She said "just do $200 worth of work - I'm sure it =
will be just fine." After mangling a couple keys and seeing that they =
still did not work, I said to myself: "Self, this is BS. You need to =
halt work on this piano." Put piano back together, packed up my toys, =
and told the lady that she needed over $500 worth of work in the keys =
alone just to make them work, and that she would still have a piano with =
a slow action, a separated pinblock, and oinking dampers. I told her =
that it was not possible to repair this piano at any reasonable cost and =
that I was not willing to attempt to do so. I thought for sure she was =
just going to hit the roof and call me bad names, etc. (because she was =
so insistent that we could "make the piano good enough"). But she was =
very understanding and thanked me profusely for my honesty. I was even =
willing to not charge her because I wanted it to be clear that my =
intentions were genuine. She offered and paid me my minimum fee. (Her =
son just started lessons with a teacher/client of mine and I also tune =
for many of her other students.) We had a good talk about finding a =
replacement piano, Larry Fine, etc., etc. What I thought had developed =
into the service call from hell, in the end turned out to be OK after =
all. This was one of those pianos - like a termite riddled piano - that =
just gets worse and worse the further you dig into it. Terry Farrell
  --=20
  Richard Brekne=20
  RPT, N.P.T.F.=20
  UiB, Bergen, Norway=20
  mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no=20
  http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html=20
  http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html=20
   =20

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