Phillips Screws in an Antique
By Larry Fisher
> From: RHayno@aol.com
>
> Subject: phillips screws in an antique.
>
> The ugliest thing you will ever see in an antique anything is a phillips
> screw. A player piano with a phillips screw in it is a screwed up player
> piano.
But, what if it plays really well, and the player is a plain ol' 80/88 note nothing fancy type player? Screwed up player is a bit strong here in my opinion. I agree with your previous sentence. There are varied schools of thought on whether a piano is an antique or not however.
> I sure hope the guy who recommended changing all the screws to phillips
> does not work on anything of value like an orchestrian or music box.
> Imagine opening up a fine Swiss music box and seeing shiny modern phillips
> screws staring out at you. YUK.
First off, I didn't say anything about replacing all of the screws in the entire piano and I'm sorry you got that impression from my post. Secondly the post was about a player piano being difficult to pump even after it had been fully rebuilt. Nothing was said about swiss music boxes, or any other type of instrument. Although I feel you're point is to be taken seriously, I don't feel my post had anything to do with degrading the antique value of music boxes or orchestians.
What if you were to replace the phillips with the originals after all the tedious work of adjusting the valves was finished? This not only saves some time, but saves wear on the originals for those of you who need to have that level of repair. I personally won't do that level of work. I'd rather pass that type of work off to someone such as yourself. I admire your yen for original detail. You must really do a nice job! I don't have the clientele that will pay that kind of money for that level of restoration on a player piano. Orchestrians and music boxes are a whole new field when it comes to restoration. No, I don't put phillips screws in them, and I have no desire to. However, when it comes to adjusting valves in the valve chest on a player piano, I don't have three days to devote to turning slotted head screws by hand. My wrists won't take it. Phillips screws speed up the process immensely, and when the customer is paying me by the hour, they'll accept the phillips screws EVERY TIME. I'm out here in the field dealing with those who are paying me to provide them with the kind of service they want. If I try to sell them what I want them to have, sometimes I loose the customer and the job.
I respect your desire to do really nice work and I 've seen such restorations. They have their place out in the market place, but so far, 100% of my customers have been "generic player pianos" and they just want the thing repaired so it plays again without a lot of expense. A really special piece like an art case Duo or special order Ampico are going to be owned by someone that wants a really special job and will pay a really special person a really special price to achieve a totally remarkable restoration. I never see these requests and have every intention to pass them off to someone that is willing to work for the love the piece rather than try to actually make a living at it.
I respect your love for the old and your desire to keep things looking like they've never been "violated". I don't wish this posting to create any ill feelings amongst those of you who really go all out to make your work truly remarkable. I decided a long time ago that I can't make a living doing that level of work for such a small market. ( in this area anyway ) I have other work that pays much better and so a balance must be found. Those customers that are willing to pay for a basic rebuild as opposed to a restoration, I'll do the work for. I'm beginning to loose those jobs lately, however, because the price is getting to be too high and materials are getting harder to find. So, I have to either work for less, move faster, or find cheaper materials. It's ending up being a combination of all three. It won't be long and I'll not be doing these jobs anymore. Hobbyists will be doing the majority of them, evenings (typically), you know, after a full day of actually making a living doing something else.
I appreciate your point that you made and will consider this viewpoint in the future.
Good luck to all of you and happy holidays.
Larry Fisher, Metro Portland, Or.
Factory Preferred Installer for PianoDisc Products
phone 360-256-2999 or Email larryf@pacifier.com
live life with variety and stare adversity in the eye!
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(Message sent Tue 12 Dec 1995, 06:53:15 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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