My own experience is in pneumatic restoration and the most upsetting
of all is when the work done on an instrument by the former restorer,
who was known to be of high repute and doing quality work, to be
slipshod, or the hobby journals publish, in all good intentions,
"handy" tips on rebuilding developed by eager do-it-yourselfers who
think that they have all the experience and knowledge it takes to
successfully restore instruments after getting a foot-pumped player
working.

Unfortunately, I have seen examples (too many) of both.  The ones that
come to mind in the first case is having to re-rebuild instruments
originally "restored" by a rebuilder who somehow developed a reputation
for his quality.  I must have been re-doing his "learning curve"
instruments: Using white glue making wood separation next to impossible
(including white gluing of unit blocks) and pump cloth as flap valves
(I guess the price he quoted didn't include the use of the proper
leather) was almost more than I could stomach.

I guess the widespread use of duct tape and thin, fiberglass sheeting
as gasket material took the cake on a nickelodeon I restored from the
Midwest.  Oh yes, material from latex gloves were cut up for pouch
replacements -- the ones that didn't have auto grease smeared on them,
presumably to keep them sealed and flexible.

The second case was reading in a technical article how the amateur
rebuilder simply remedied his leaking Ampico pump flaps by removing
the quieters because of the leakage the replaced ones were causing.
I guess he failed to realize that the individual flap valve holes
were sealed as a group around the four edges of the leather section,
and was instead shooting for individual hole sealings, quite impossible
using a quieter running down the center of the flap valve!

I suppose that the extra noise of the flaps working without their
quieters didn't musically offend him during pianissimo passages, if
the vacuum ever actually reached 5" and the stack valves responded.
Why the journal who published his article didn't predicate his article
with "opinion only" I'll never know; nevertheless, it will doubtless
influence other do-it-yourselfers to ask, "Why bother with those
difficult to rebuild rotary pump flap valve quieters anyway?"

I think the most deadly attitude in our hobby is the one of the
infamous Jack-of-all-Trades who boldly asks, with respect to the
restoration of automatic musical instruments, "Just how difficult
_can_ it be?"

I assure you all, after professionally restoring for over 30 years,
it can be very, very difficult and supremely time consuming to do
a world-class job.  It is not remunerated for the true value of what
the work is worth, and those of us who are fool enough to stay in
the business "'til death do us part" do it because of our love for and
consideration for the instruments, certainly not as a way of making
a decent living.

Stephen Kent Goodman