Sorry for the lack of information, guys (and gals)... I was up late as I had just finished playing piano for a "Cats" production at a nearby HS for the 9th time in the last 8 days! After tonight and tomorrow's last two shows, life will get back to normal, whatever that is... :-) First of all, I tuned it flat for two reasons. For starters, the client wanted to spend as little as possible to get it sounding and looking nice. Given the condition of the strings, in all their gunmetal grey glory, I feared some strings might break if I brought it right up to A440. That adds a cost that she didn't want to spend, and I felt it might make it more difficult for her to sell the piano if several strings were all shiny and new while others weren't. I know some potential buyer would ask about them and then worry if they're all going to break. Second, by attempting to stabilize it at a lower pitch I was avoiding the pitch raise, as well. And no, I didn't charge her half, in fact I didn't charge her for the pitch raise at all, just for the tuning. All the keys play equally and the action probably needs some regulation, but overall it plays very much as I would expect, in my experience of having played lots of pianos in the last 40+ years. I didn't pull the action this time, but I will be doing that next week during the deep cleaning that she wanted, which, when she realized I wasn't charging her for the pitch raise, she seemed a lot more trusting of me and invited me back to do the cleaning. ;-) As I learned just in the last few days, you can make just as much with a vacuum as you can with a tuning hammer. :-) However, from what I was able to view, the hammers were actually in very good shape. There was very little "wear" pattern in the strike point of the hammers, and the hammer line at rest was nearly a straight line and within an appropriate blow distance. A few samples of let-off and drop appeared very close to where I would want them to be. Damper felt condition was very good, too. Tuning pin torque, although not measured with a torque wrench, was well within what I would expect. They moved precisely with a light-moderate effort and they stayed where I put them. Maybe 2-3 total out of the entire group felt a little too easy and might benefit from some C/A work. All in all, I really enjoyed the feeling that the tuning pins had. I realize that it's subjective, but in my limited experience, the tuning pins felt pretty close to where I would want them to be. The only drawback is that the beckets didn't all line up... :-) So for me, the main problems are the strings and the dirt (oh, and the lyre repair). The case is in great shape, the action appears to be fully functional and within very playable tolerances. Given the condition of the piano and the budget of a single mom with 4 kids, my choice was the lower pitch and to recommend a really good cleaning, evening if it is only eye-candy for the unsuspecting. :-) Regards, Rob McCall McCall Piano Service, LLC www.mccallpiano.com Murrieta, CA 951-698-1875 On Mar 19, 2010, at 07:19 , Mike Spalding wrote: > Paul and Terry and Rob, > > Rob gave no information whatsoever about pin torque (although it "tuned nicely") or the condition of the action. If one assumes the worst, then Terry's assessment is right on. If one assumes the best, then Paul's is correct. I would point out that in my limited experience, there are a large number of piano owners and "rebuilders" for whom external appearance is the main priority. Tell me you've never seen an attractively refinished small grand with freshly filed hammers, otherwise all original action parts badly worn, sometimes regulated and sometimes not. Anyway, Rob, to help you with a valuation we really need to know more about the instrument (as opposed to case cosmetics).
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