[ Philip Bergeron wrote in 151225 MMDigest:



> I was quoted between $8,000 and $12,000 for a complete vacuum

> and bellows restoration.  Is this a fair price and is this machine

> worth it?



Your pictures on the MMD site show a Western Electric Mascot model.

The only photo that gives any indication of the pianos condition is

the photo of the pump; it looks nicely restored.



I offer a couple of wild guesses about the rest of the piano:

(1) that it may have been restored in a humid climate and has now

dried out so that it is leaking, or really wild (2) that someone

just restored the pump and not the rest of the piano.



There are lots of joints in these small pianos that can leak.  The

pneumatics that actually move the piano whippens are on two deck

boards.  Each of these boards is screwed to a common backing board

full of air channels and the bleeds for them.  Each of the two deck

boards has a pouch with a valve for each pneumatic.



There is a gasket that is between these deck boards and the backing

board that they are attached to.  Long screws attach the two deck

boards and often are stripped to the point that the screws no longer

hold.



The deck boards are also two pieces of wood that have a gasket between

them that can leak.  With all these parts having a gasket then it is

important that the gasket be made of leather; not cork or something

else.  I would hope that this piano just needs all these gasketed

pieces tightened.



There is also a valve box in the lower left of the piano above the pump

that can leak as well as the pump.  It certainly does not need 8 to 10

grand worth of repairs.  Send more photos taken of larger areas,

hopefully showing the entire top section.



Don Teach

Shreveport, Louisiana