This story is almost too embarrassing to tell... the assisted living facility had just received a prized donation... an old Player Piano! Yes, the player actually worked, and the donor included several rolls. Did I say it worked? Well, it did play, but it didn't play very loudly. Oh, did I mention the donee wanted a valuation to give to the donor for a big tax write off? I mean, come on, this is an antique, after all... it's gotta be worth a lot, right? I don't know much about pneumatic player repair, but I could tell that the reason this unit didn't play well was because it was very leaky... bellows were all old and cracked and patched and cracked again etc etc. I hooked them up with the local pneuma-doc... but they didn't want to pay for the necessary rebuild. Upshot of the story... the keybed was chock full of something... I don't recall now if it was dog food or corn and stuff, but in order to get the keys out to clean out the mess, I'd have to remove a big, old, brittle hose which would destroy it, guaranteed. The nice elderly persons at the home really enjoyed their "new" player piano (probably reminded a lot of them of their more youthful years) so I was not given the go-ahead to clean it out. That was over two years ago... as far as I know, the ol' cracked corn is still protected by that cracked hose. Yuck!! It really annoys me that people insist on unloading their junk onto these unsuspecting retirement homes, churches, and sometimes schools... and the recipients don't learn the error of accepting it until we come along and tell 'em it's going to cost them $$$($) to fix their "free" donation. Paul Bruesch Stillwater, MN On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 7:21 PM, Kerry <kerrykean at att.net> wrote: > I opened an upright one time to find the side keywells filled with > dogfood, and the center was a cozy nest. When I returned the action and keys > two weeks later, they’d filled it up again (busy indeed!). The lady was > appalled so I had to stifle a laugh when I imagined the horror and fury the > mice experienced when they returned home to find they’d been burglarized > again… > > > > Kerry Kean > > www.ohiopianotuner.com > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* CHARLES BECKER [mailto:cbeckercpt at verizon.net] > *Sent:* Thursday, February 04, 2010 8:11 PM > *To:* pianotech at ptg.org > > *Subject:* Re: [pianotech] Interesting Find > > > > I once found the space under the keys filled up with dog kibble. That was > one busy rodent. > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> > > *To:* pianotech at ptg.org > > *Sent:* Thursday, February 04, 2010 6:18 PM > > *Subject:* Re: [pianotech] Interesting Find > > > > I had a piano some years back where the customer said none of the keys > worked - you couldn't push them down. I went there and removed some of the > keys and found the entire keybed - all the space under the keys - was > completely filled with acorns. Not really 100% sure how they got there. > > > > Terry Farrell > > > > On Feb 4, 2010, at 2:43 PM, Marc Mailhot wrote: > > > > Hi everyone. > > > > Just got back from a supposed 30 min piano evaluation that turned into a 2 > hour service all. > > > > Seems a rodent got into her Wurlitzer Spinet...built a nice nest and helped > himself to piles of dogfood...still on the action...IN the action...and on > the bottom of the piano. Being a Spinet did not want to pull the acton and > managed to get most of it out. Still more left which will require another > service call and likely pulling all the keys out as I found little morsels > of food underneath the 3 keys I pulled to get the food out.Tuning after the > next service call. Pulled one original key screw out and found it was bent > in the middle...installed that way at the Factory in 1963 per my dating of > the SN. More quality workmanship from Wullitzer! My customer got her > camera out and I took a good number of photos which she'll send me and then > I'll share with all of you. I love this job and thought I'd share my > morning with you all. Last known tuning was in June 1994. > > > > She lives in the country and I suspect this happens all the time...but my > first encounter with rodents who like pianos! > > > > All for now. > > > > Regards as always. > > > > Marc P. Mailhot > > Marco Polo Music > > Westbrook, Maine USA > > The Love You Take is Equal to the Love You Make... > > The Beatles/Abbey Road (The End)...1969 > > --- On *Thu, 2/4/10, pianotech-request at ptg.org <pianotech-request at ptg.org> > * wrote: > > > From: pianotech-request at ptg.org <pianotech-request at ptg.org> > Subject: pianotech Digest, Vol 16, Issue 46 > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010, 2:00 PM > > Send pianotech mailing list submissions to > pianotech at ptg.org<http://us.mc507.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pianotech@ptg.org> > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://ptg.org/mailman/listinfo/pianotech > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > pianotech-request at ptg.org<http://us.mc507.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pianotech-request@ptg.org> > > You can reach the person managing the list at > pianotech-owner at ptg.org<http://us.mc507.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pianotech-owner@ptg.org> > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of pianotech digest..." > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: pianotech Digest, Vol 16, Issue 44 (Anna-Luise Messerschmidt) > 2. Re: Axis of evil sounds (was hardening hammers on a Chinese > PSO) (Kerry) > 3. Re: Pleyel Grand Regulation (David Ilvedson) > 4. Pleyel Grand Regulation (CALANDE Luc) > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech mailing list > pianotech at ptg.org<http://us.mc507.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pianotech@ptg.org> > http://ptg.org/mailman/listinfo/pianotech > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100204/3c0faac2/attachment-0001.htm>
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