I would like to offer my views on just what rebuilding, restoring
and repairing are and are not.

"Rebuilding," to me, means to completely discard all the unusable
materials and get as close to new as possible, but there are instances
where it is impossible to obtain the exact result.  For instance, we
cannot go to a Standard or Aeolian factory worker and ask them what
material they used, because that material may simply not be available
any more.  I don't believe it would be false to say that a complete
rebuilding on a player piano would take more time than a restoration.

Restoring something, on the other hand, may mean two different things
to two different persons.  It also has two different meanings.  One
can proudly admit, "I was the one who restored the Welte Style 6 from
Nidd Hall," while another may say, "The music box was restored from its
new position in the hallway to the original location by the fireplace."

"Restoration" is a tricky word.  One may say, "I will restore your
player piano," and the piano comes back six months later with only the
bare minimum done on it to get it playing, but in that person's mind,
they "restored it" as in "restoring it to playing condition."  Not a
good way to earn customers!

Now let's say that Brian Thornton comes along and tells you that he
will restore your Welte-Mignon grand reproducer.  But this time, six
months later, he comes with a delivery truck and brings the piano back.

He tells you to take the dust cover off and you gasp -- that Welte-Mignon
looks like, smells like, and feels like it came fresh from the factory.
You cannot believe your eyes, ears, or nose.  Your entire being is
filled with one overreaching spasm of indescribable joy.

The roll, "The Star-Spangled Banner" peals majestically from the
strings, struck by new virgin felt hammers and a piano action from
which Brian personally discarded any and all of the old parts.  Even
the piano tuning-pin plank has been replaced with one of Delignit (TM)
material.  It is one awesome and supreme moment of sheer happiness.
You can absolutely rely on Brian to be a true restorer in every sense
of the word.

This is what a true restoration is like.  Like Art Reblitz says,
anything short of that is not restored.

Repairing is really not anything glamorous, and too often can lead
to making a player piano look much worse than before.  "Well, I
repaired that player," you say.  After you depart, the customer finds
that you used Loc-Tite and automotive tarp material to make "airtight"
bellows, Elmer's glue on practically every gasket, and JB-Weld to make
absolutely sure that the new tracker bar tubing won't come loose!

In addition, the customer finds that you painted the transmission
metallic instead of soaking it and cleaning it with a proper metal
polish, you painted the old genuine ivory keys whiter and the black
keys blacker with acrylic paint so they look "new," and to top it all
off, you completely messed up by using Perflex, hot melt glue,
synthetic leather, aquarium fish tank tubing, bathtub caulk, Liquid
Nails, and all sorts of crazy stuff that was and is in every respect
non-standard.

The final touch and the last straw for your most unfortunate customer
was when you painted the tracker bar with brass paint, thus sealing off
the holes, effectively making the player action unusable!

Luke Myers
ldmyers95@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]