Happens every year...
-
They sent a picture - old tall upright - this should be an adventure!
Even though I'm known in the industry as the electronic tuning device guy, or the temperament guy, my speciality (If I have one...) is just this type of situation. Limited time, biggest improvement. The tuning device work and temperament creation is all part of improving efficiency for tuning. I've done similar experiments with action work and voicing to get the biggest bang for the time.
If you are looking for someone to spend a day or two refining in the quest for perfection, I'm not your guy. Give me 2-3 hours with a neglected piano, and I'm in triage heaven! Yes, I squeezed them in. Yes, I will charge a lot...
-
-
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”
― Douglas Adams -
@Mik said in Happens every year...:
@Steve-Miller said in Happens every year...:
Wurlitzer spinet.
Hey bucko…I started out with one. 🤬
Wurlitzer console here.... -
I started on an ancient Cabinet Grand. I couldn’t tell you the brand, not that it would have mattered. The poor thing was completely hammered, broken hammers and any number of other issues. Someone had “antiqued” it a grisly shade of orange and it didn’t matter. It was big, it was loud, and I could play it any time I wanted. Glorious! No more begging time on the neighbor’s pianos!
I’d saved up $100 in paper route earnings and being as the piano cost only $50, I had $50 to get it tuned. The $50 tuner who I found in the Pennysaver (remember the Pennysaver?) took one look at it and almost walked out. He asked me how much I had to spend on it and I showed him - a shoebox filled with coin rolls, some loose bills and a jar of change.
$50 - same as I paid for the piano. He must have liked my answer because he agreed to tune it and maybe fix a few things.
That guy must have been some kind of saint because he spent pretty much the rest of the day messing with it. He let me watch and even help. What he taught me is a big reason why I love Landfill uprights to this day.
-
OMg @Steve-Miller i never heard that story! What a great story!!
Not the same but it reminds me of the Piano Whisperer (who I bought my Petrof from) who cared more about being people and pianos together than he did about making a buck.
-
-
-
Thought it would be a grand upright when I started this thread and it is!
Have considered buying and old upright and having it restored, new action, etc. . The trouble with that is I thought of it after getting my Yamaha upright.
From the Yamaha website, " It’s quite simply the grandest sounding upright available."
-
I had a big old upright as a young musician starting out in San Francisco. And a tuner who liked it (he’s still around, the notorious Ben Treuhaft).
It wasn’t bad. I have not had the pleasure of hearing an old upright that is completely rebuilt. I wonder how good they can sound at their best.
-
@RealPlayer said in Happens every year...:
the notorious Ben Treuhaft
I had to look him up. HIs website is hysterical.
-
I've only heard one rebuilt upright. It was in a small piano shop in the owner's office. Brand was "Beckwith", a Sears brand that might have been built by anyone.
The sound was magnificent! Not the sort of subtle, nuanced sound you might get from a nice concert grand, but big and full and LOUD - partly because you're sitting right in front of it.
It's the only time I've ever heard one that didn't have 100 year old strings.
-
I remember hearing about that guy.
Send a piana to Havana!
-
-
Well, they cancelled the appointment...
I grew up with a couple of full uprights - kept one going (tiger striped Cable) through my oldest's lesson years through high school. He preferred that one to the old grand we had in the house for a while. There is a 1907 Fuehr & Stemmer full upright that I tune rebuilt by Farley's in Wisconsin, just a wonderful job!
