[pianotech] "interesting" pianos

[Ron Nossaman]

On 1/4/2013 9:31 AM, Stephen Grattan wrote:
> I had a customer ask about refinishing a beautiful old upright and I
> advised them that I could- but I would suggest that the piano be checked
> over before to ensure it was tunable. They accused me of just trying to
> make the job bigger, so I declined the refinishing job.  Six months
> later I got a call from the customer, forgetting she had called before.
> I went out to check whatever the problem was.  The piano was horribly
> out of tune, so I opened it up and found a shattered plate, splits in
> the soundboard big enough to stick my hand through and a completely worn
> out action - but a beautiful $4000.00 finish.  I informed her that she
> had a beautiful carpet stretcher.

And in spite of having told her the right stuff all along, I'm sure it 
was all your fault. The guy who takes the money and runs is rarely 
blamed. It's the guy who is expected, without prior consultation, to 
make the thing work afterwards that is the crook.
Ron N