QUESTION ABOUT AN OLD PIANO

[John Formsma]

You gotta do what you gotta do, Tom. I've done what you're describing.
(I think we all have to start there, right?  And if you had a weird
interest in check the archives on this topic, you could find that
several years ago I was making statements similar to yours.)

In my area, I will usually drive 80-100 miles round trip to get the
work. There's just not much in my immediate area. And, it's taken 8
years to get to this point. (I do what I gotta do, you know?)
Thankfully, I can do this now, but there was a time when I'd work on
anything. And I still do the old uprights of existing clients. I just
wait for them to call me instead of me calling them.

Just today I had a gentle but honest talk with a customer about
replacing her old piano. It needs way more than it could ever be
worth. She appreciated my saying so.

> A piano that needs it's capstans adjusted is a bonus, if you ask me.  It
> takes 15 to 20 minutes, and for the amount of money that the client spends,
> boy, do they get results!  I always say you get more bang for your buck on
> capstan adjustment than just about any other operation you can do on a
> piano.  For the same money, I mean.

Yes, and then there's the blow adjustment to set it less than 2"+. And
you gotta deal with that 1/2"+ key dip. There's just no good stopping
place. Down here, most old uprights have tuning pins so loose they
can't be fine-tuned.

> And I've certainly broken two pieces in the process of trying to repair the one that
> was broken when I arrived.

I hate it when that happens! And it's always when you're already late
for the next appointment. And when strings break, you just can't leave
it unplayable.

> Lemons?  Or lemonade?

For you, lemonade. :)  For me, lemonade too, but I guess I'm now
getting my lemonade at a different lemonade stand. :)

JF