Day 1 – Monday, May 24:

Goal(s): Assess overall condition; note major issues that will need time, money, or tools to repair; do basic cleaning, superficial cleaning.

Music: Horace Silver’s “A Song For My Father”

We picked up the piano today. By the time I arrived at the owner’s house around 5:15, Jason and his assistant already had the pedals removed, the piano wrapped tightly in blankets held with straps, and they were in the process of removing the legs. They positioned the piano so that two legs on the diagonal were up on blankets so they could remove the other two legs after putting the piano on its side on a moving dolly. They had it out the door and ready to go by about 5:30.

We drove to our house and decided the best way to get the piano into the house would be through the garage, since it had the fewest steps (four) and didn’t require driving over any grass. I had put down padding, an old rug, and a large heavy duty tarp in the dining room, and they moved it there in short order, negotiating the stairs with the use of a 7-foot metal reinforced plywood ramp. The legs were marked rather cryptically, making finding the right one to go in each corner a little difficult. One of the legs had a loose dowel and I was completely out of wood glue and regular Elmer’s. In order to get the piano sitting properly, we needed to get that dowel to stay still so it could be screwed in properly. I managed the trick with about three toothpicks acting as shims or bushings. That leg will have to be removed and repaired properly, once I have the piano sitting up on whatever it is I’m going to have it sitting up on while I work on the underside.

When we got the top open and I played a few notes, I was amazed and delighted to find that the piano had “fallen into” tune. It still needs tuning and is quite rough sounding, but all of a sudden, it actually was playable. There is one broken string, one removed and relocated damper arm, one missing damper arm, and at least two dead keys, but other than that, everything is appearing to be pretty sound. I took some brass polish to the sound board and ended up taking some of the surface finish off. (I think. I didn’t look at it real good, so I can’t tell if I’m removing the finishing or getting down to the patina or whatnot. I stopped doing that until I could get an informed opinion.)

I ordered a professional tuning kit, a book on piano tuning and refurbishing, plus I picked up some sticky felt and caster cups on the way home last night prior to going to pick up the piano. Next step is going to be to remove the top and vacuum the whole thing out. Once my tuning wrench arrives, I plan to loosen all the strings and let them sit for a day or two. I want to see if my book addresses the issue of dealing with rusty pins and strings before I attempt to clean them. I have to remove the felt and get some new felt strips. I have to get a Dremel to work on the inlay. I’ll have to order some mother of pearl to finish the inlay. Haven’t decided if I’m going to keep the casters or do away with them. Not sure about replacing the strings either. I think I will take the sound board out to see what the frame looks like underneath, maybe clean and oil that. If I can get the top off without any problem, I’m going to sand that whole thing down and refinish it.

I have lots of ideas, but I really need a plan.