String Replacement

[pianolady50 at peoplepc.com]

> You don't even have to tune them to be blamed.


Years ago I went to problem solve a really neat Art-Deco style Acrosonic.
(Gorgeous veneer work).  Lady had complained that a few notes were sounding
buzzy.  This was my first visit to the piano.  She played the offending
notes, plenty of nasty sounds.  I opened the lid to find two broken bass
strings.  Hmmmm....why?  Since they were not broken at the top end, I opened
the bottom to take a look.  Yuck!  Two feet of rust and green gunk.  I say,
"This piano has had water in it."  She asks, "How can you tell?"  <G>.
Well, she wants to spend nothing on the piano but still wants to play it.
So, I explain that *everything* is severely rusty - strings, springs, etc.
and that it will continue to self-destruct.  Yes, she understands but "Can
you just get rid of the buzzing?".  Since both broken strings were each one
string of different bichords, I told her that I would remove them, coil
them, and leave them in the bottom of the piano...no charge.  She's happy
for about a week of playing.  Return call while I'm in the neighborhood
finds most of the rusty damper springs and half the hammer butt springs now
broken   "I'm sorry, remember I warned you that it would self-destruct?"
Yes, she remembers.

A week later I get a call from another tech.  She had called him to go out
and look at her piano because a lady tech had broken her piano!  He knew
something wasn't quite right with that story!

So...once again...no good deed....LOL

Debbie