[pianotech] very old pianos

[Peter and Jesse]

Hi list. I am a student technician in Prince George, British Columbia,
and I just wanted to throw in a student's perspective. First of all, I
agree with what William Monroe wrote, and suspect that most of us do. I
just wanted to comment on something that Ron N said about letting others
do work on old uprights.
	Like Ron, I also live in an area where there is more work than
technicians. I am glad that the technicians who are very skilled and
have decades of experience are choosing the concert-level work over the
old uprights. Professional performers expect a very high level of
expertise for their pianos, as do many people with expensive
good-quality pianos. This is service that I cannot provide. If these
technicians decided to undiscriminatingly take on work by whoever called
them first, then these clients would not be satisfied, and I wouldn't be
able to find as much work. By taking higher-level work, you are leaving
students like me to be able to service clients who might have lower
needs and can accept a less-than-perfect temperament or regulation.
 Peter Stevenson

On Sat, 2009-01-31 at 15:06 -0600, William Monroe wrote:
> Hi Paul, and others,
>  
> I think most ethical technicians tend to do the right thing.  I also
> think it can be a challenge to convey our approaches via email.  Most
> of us are probably all thinking similar thoughts, but express it
> differently in writing.
>  
> My approach is fairly simple, and I honestly don't ever feel like I
> "need to be careful" about a service approach to a particular piano.
> The first step for me is education.  I make no presumption to assess
> the sentimental value of a piano.  My assessments are purely
> functional/musical in nature.  My clients are told exactly (or as
> nearly as possible) what they have, what the problems are (including
> age problems), and what the various service solutions are.  They are
> also told very clearly what level of performance they can expect
> if/when all the recommended service work is done.  This also includes
> a "here's what a new or newer used piano might cost you today"
> summary.
>  
> What is important to me is that my clients understand fully what their
> options are, what they can reasonably expect for whatever money -
> including the idea that if they choose to invest money in most of
> these oldies, they can expect that it will not increase the value of
> the piano one bit (without some degree of restoration/rebuilding).  A
> key concept for some clients is the recognition that with most old
> instruments, they are investing money in themselves, in their
> enjoyment of playing, not in the piano.  While that enjoyment may not
> be as much as a new piano, it doesn't cost as much either.
>  
> Now, with all this in mind, the client makes a choice, not me.  If
> I've done my job well, and my clients are properly educated, they will
> make "A" right choice for themselves (I believe most often there can
> be more than one appropriate choice).  Most times these days, my
> clients choose to upgrade to a better instrument.  On occasion, I have
> clients that choose to invest $1500 to shape hammers, rebush keys,
> clean, lube, tighten, regulate, etc. an old 5' grand, for example.
> It's still worth nothing, but it has taken an unplayable old wreck and
> made it a reasonably functional instrument.  And now, I have a
> satisfied client who was not lead to believe they would have anything
> other than what they now have.
>  
> Easy as pie.  <G>
>  
> William R. Monroe

>