JpScoey Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 ' Someimes the day-to-day routine can seem a bit monotonous, but every now & again there's a pleasant surprise..... Today was such a day. I was booked to tune the piano at a Church. It's not the typical English Church (stone built, rows of pews etc). It's was built in 1955 (this is relevant). Anyway, this fella was there to let me in, asked how long I'd be (1 hour), and said that's when he'd return. I got prepared, then took the dust cover off the organ, so I could match the pitch of the piano to the organ. It was a near-pristine Hammond A100 ! Needless to say, when he returned after 1 hour, the piano tuning was not finished! This bloke was quite ok about it tho', and he explained that the A100 was purchased brand-new when the Church opened. (I told you 1955 was relevant!) So - I had the pleasure of spending some time playing a 54 year-old Hammond. (I wish I could have stayed all afternoon). Some days ARE better than others. . . Anyone else get pleasant surprises at their work? (keep it clean!) John. some stuff on myspace Nord: StageEX-88, Electro2-73, Hammond: XK-1, Yamaha: XS7 Korg: M3-73 EXpanded, M50-88, X50, Roland: Juno D, Kurzweil: K2000vp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Something is a little fishy with the dates - the first A-100 was manufactured in 1959. But it's always great to run across an unexpected Hammond! Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JpScoey Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Something is a little fishy with the dates - the first A-100 was manufactured in 1959. Can't have been '55 then! - but he was quite sure the organ was bought new, and it has lived exactly where it is today since then (and has obviously been well cared for). Next time I go there (next Xmas) I'll try to remember to take some photos. John. some stuff on myspace Nord: StageEX-88, Electro2-73, Hammond: XK-1, Yamaha: XS7 Korg: M3-73 EXpanded, M50-88, X50, Roland: Juno D, Kurzweil: K2000vp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 I was hired to stage manage a jazz show at the local Christ Church Cathedral a couple of years back. My call time was 1:00 in the afternoon. I got there and found out the artists had missed their flight and wouldn't be there until an hour before the show. Their tour manager/sound-tech had come ahead so we set up the stage and then did the line checks. When it came time for the piano check I sat down and played a few chords on the freshly-tuned, magnificent Steinway D. I started to get up and the sound-tech asked me to keep playing as much as I wanted. Who was I to say no? Once the soundcheck was done everyone left to eat and get ready for the show and there I was - alone in a cathedral with a a 9-foot Steinway and 4 hours to kill! Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Many years ago I was working part time as a janitor at St Charles church in North Hollywood and they had, at that time a 9-foot Steinway concert grand which I had the rare opportunity to play for about an hour or so a day when I finished my work. The job may have sucked, but that was a great perk that made it worth sticking around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I once had a car accident which was my fault. Being a poor musician and having no insurance, I asked the guy if I could pay him cash. Went to his house to pay up and lo and behold, in his living room was a harpsichord he had built. I got to play it for a few minutes - wasn't expecting that! Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3maniac Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Back in the mid-70's I was a full time college student and struggling to pay tuition and living expenses. I made money by playing in a band and cleaning carpets. Many of my carpet cleaning jobs were in private residences and it wasn't unusual to see pianos and organs in many of the homes. One particular job was for a man who's unmarried sister had passed away and I met him at her home to do cleaning in preparation of selling the house. The house was almost empty except for a beautiful smaller Baldwin baby grand. I looked at it and asked the man if I might play it. He said "sure", so I sat there and played it for just a few minutes. It was in amazing condition and sounded wonderful. He told me his sister had been a piano teacher for years, and asked me if I could get the piano moved for him. I said "sure", thinking he would hire me to move it. He said "good"......."it's yours if you move it". The Baldwin has been in our family now for about 35 year and my sister has used it to teach many students to play. Yamaha MOXF8, MOXF6, Radial Key Largo, Yamaha DXR 10's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 I'm a software engineer. We get great perks! For example, all the hot girls. Um ... well, when the Marketing department had a presence in our building, yeah, but they moved ... um ... And they pay for our broadband ... oops, they quit that. Well, there's always the muzak in the elevators! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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