Shaff should have the parts... but someone may know better on that. The last time we did that was on a very deco Jesse France Console that looked like it belonged on a George Jetson cartoon. (almost 20 years ago.) I should have asked double what I did because...
The labor to replace the parts was only be equaled by the regulation to follow. (not quite equal, but close)
It probably has plastic Damper flanges, and plastic damper levers. Install new damper felts. It will be easier for you to glue new ones on than to duplicate the position the old ones have been sitting in for decades.
I know the George Jetson had Plastic whippen flanges, jacks. Butt flanges, damper flanges damper levers and back checks. Some have full plastic whippens.
BTW ... In my humble but highly accurate opinion...Always replace ALL elbows and/or ALL plastic parts. Yes, I know "they don't want to spend that much" but they also dont know the consequences of their inaction. Here is a little "sales tip" for elbows. (It part of my free weekly series... "Fine Tuning Your Salesmanship". You can sign up by clicking below in my signature. Did I say it is free?)
Customer: "How much will a set of new elbows cost?"
Me: "That depends. Either $625 or about $11,000.00. Which would you like to pay?"
Customer: "$11,000??!!!?? are you kidding?"
Me: "They are ALL going to break. You can pay me $125 for 88 service calls, or $625 and we will reshape the hammers, tighten, realign the parts, Repin Repair Replace parts as needed, reinstall the action and regulate it. You also get a 1000 year guarantee on the new plastic elbows. When would you like me to return the action? Is Tuesday good or would Thursday be better?"
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David Estey, RPT
www.EsteyPiano.com Piano Tuners Sales Tips for the week. FREE! Sign up here:
http://coolstuffformusicians.com/fine-tuning-your-salesmanship Creating Harmony in a World filled with Discord.
1-800-ON A PIANO (662-7426)
dave@esteypiano.com -------------------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-29-2011 18:35
From: James Kelly
Subject: 1947 Ivers & Pond Pratt Read Action- plastic jacks and backcheck parts
I inspected an Ivers & Pond console that had 3 broken back checks as well as 2 broken jacks. They are made of plastic and as brittle as the plastic that was used on the spinet elbows in many pianos.
My question is should these parts be replaced and if so what sources should I use for them - Schaff or someone else ? It also seems that the biggest expense would be the labor to unpin all the jacks and repin as well as spinning off the backchecks for all 88 notes. The rest of the piano is in good condition - good coil to plate clearance, decent hammers and dampers , sound structurally and very nice mahogany casework with an unusual hanging pedal lyre with rods under the keybed.
Because the plastic is so brittle I feel it would be better to do all the work at once rather than replace as they break. I had a customer with plastic elbows who kept calling me when a few would break everytime her grandkids came. Finally I got a full set of the clear elbows and did all of them....
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James Kelly
Pawleys Island SC
843-325-4357
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