Pianotech

I need to cure an extremely sluggish hammer situation in this old piano.  To me the only recourse it to drill out the old flange bushings and put new ones in.  My usual way of pricing a repair is to use the "G" Piano Works Repair Labor Guide.  When I look at the entry "Rebush (both sides), each" I get a time of 0.2 hours.  First of all it is puzzling to me why it was need to say both sides as I can't imagine a situation where you'd only do 1 side.  The main thing that I need help with, though, is the fact that there is no entry for rebushing a set (of 88) bushings.  If you multiply it out you get 17.6 hours of labor which seems to be way too much.  I am tempted to use the entry for replacing a set of flanges which is 5.00 hours.  I'll appreciate any comments from the more experienced members of this group

THANKS

I need to cure an extremely sluggish hammer situation in this old piano.  To me the only recourse it to drill out the old flange bushings and put new ones in.  My usual way of pricing a repair is to use the "G" Piano Works Repair Labor Guide.  When I look at the entry "Rebush (both sides), each" I get a time of 0.2 hours.  First of all it is puzzling to me why it was need to say both sides as I can't imagine a situation where you'd only do 1 side.  The main thing that I need help with, though, is the fact that there is no entry for rebushing a set (of 88) bushings.  If you multiply it out you get 17.6 hours of labor which seems to be way too much.  I am tempted to use the entry for replacing a set of flanges which is 5.00 hours.  I'll appreciate any comments from the more experienced members of this group

THANKS

Wim, thanks for the reply.  I understand totally since I've done this job on all of the flanges on an upright but it was my first and a learning experience so I had my share of "gotchas" along the way.   I hoping it won't be as bad now that I've gone down the learning curve a bit.

I need to cure an extremely sluggish hammer situation in this old piano.  To me the only recourse it to drill out the old flange bushings and put new ones in.  My usual way of pricing a repair is to use the "G" Piano Works Repair Labor Guide.  When I look at the entry "Rebush (both sides), each" I get a time of 0.2 hours.  First of all it is puzzling to me why it was need to say both sides as I can't imagine a situation where you'd only do 1 side.  The main thing that I need help with, though, is the fact that there is no entry for rebushing a set (of 88) bushings.  If you multiply it out you get 17.6 hours of labor which seems to be way too much.  I am tempted to use the entry for replacing a set of flanges which is 5.00 hours.  I'll appreciate any comments from the more experienced members of this group

THANKS

Neal,

First and foremost, I inform the client that the piano (such as this one) is not only way past it's design lifespan, it's essentially well past it's intended expiration date. The sales force of the piano industry has brainwashed the masses to actually believe that these units will last (optimally) for over a century. This is total poppycock and the owner needs to realize this hard reality.

With that said, it is not your responsibility to give a "good" price to keep this thing going (they are living in dreamland). My advice is to give a good faith estimate, (e.g., "somewhere between $x,xxx and $x,xxx depending on the time involved and problems encountered"), but in the end "the time it takes is the time it takes, and the shop rate is $xxx per hour".  If they do not want to commit to that, decline the job.  (Of course it's your choice, but you did ask for experienced input).

As you already know, this is very tedious work with very little room for error. What is really called for is NEW parts, but we all know a Brambach ain't worth it. If they really want to keep this thing going they need to respect your time and abilities (and you need to do the same for yourself). 

My .02

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

Wim, thanks for the reply.  I understand totally since I've done this job on all of the flanges on an upright but it was my first and a learning experience so I had my share of "gotchas" along the way.   I hoping it won't be as bad now that I've gone down the learning curve a bit.

I need to cure an extremely sluggish hammer situation in this old piano.  To me the only recourse it to drill out the old flange bushings and put new ones in.  My usual way of pricing a repair is to use the "G" Piano Works Repair Labor Guide.  When I look at the entry "Rebush (both sides), each" I get a time of 0.2 hours.  First of all it is puzzling to me why it was need to say both sides as I can't imagine a situation where you'd only do 1 side.  The main thing that I need help with, though, is the fact that there is no entry for rebushing a set (of 88) bushings.  If you multiply it out you get 17.6 hours of labor which seems to be way too much.  I am tempted to use the entry for replacing a set of flanges which is 5.00 hours.  I'll appreciate any comments from the more experienced members of this group

THANKS

I need to cure an extremely sluggish hammer situation in this old piano.  To me the only recourse it to drill out the old flange bushings and put new ones in.  My usual way of pricing a repair is to use the "G" Piano Works Repair Labor Guide.  When I look at the entry "Rebush (both sides), each" I get a time of 0.2 hours.  First of all it is puzzling to me why it was need to say both sides as I can't imagine a situation where you'd only do 1 side.  The main thing that I need help with, though, is the fact that there is no entry for rebushing a set (of 88) bushings.  If you multiply it out you get 17.6 hours of labor which seems to be way too much.  I am tempted to use the entry for replacing a set of flanges which is 5.00 hours.  I'll appreciate any comments from the more experienced members of this group

THANKS