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Piano Fail

Two days after the piano was listed on eBay, I received a message from a potential buyer asking if he could come by my mother's to try the piano out for himself.  After going back and forth a bit, we arranged to meet up in Elizabeth around 8:30pm.

I left Avon around 7pm, taking the EOS up there, since I knew it had a full tank and hadn't been driven since Monday.  About six miles into the trip, just before reaching the Parkway, the car started acting funny and the EPC and engine lights came on (the engine light initially flashed).  I pulled off, turned off the car and restarted it.  The lights came back on, but this time the engine light just remained on.  I managed to get the car back home okay, grab the Beetle, and got to Elizabeth about 10 minutes before the buyer came over to look at the piano.

Once I got to the house, there was a lot of stuff on top of the piano that had to be removed quickly, and I had just gotten the last of it removed just as the guy came up the walk.

He asked me to open the lid, and we saw a large stain in the soundboard.  Both of us were surprised. I knew what it was: cat urine.  He tried out the piano and the sound had no resonance and just sounded flat.  He said he wouldn't place a bid, and I told him that I completely understood.  I felt more bad for him coming down from Tenafly and essentially wasting his time than I did for myself.

I called and texted everyone in NC to explain what happened.  Mom tried to downplay it saying that a vase spilled in there over 20 years ago.  Water wouldn't have caused a dark stain like that; her cats were using that piano as a litter box all that time.  Though the lid was kept down for many years, I suspect they got in through the opening closer to the keys (that section was kept open), and Mom just ignored it all this time.

After having time to think about it, the best that they can do at present is to deal honestly with the fact that the piano should be sold for parts, or to someone who has the time and the resources to restore it. I sent a text to the family in NC outlining my suggestions, and hopefully, they'll deal with it they way things are now.  Hopefully, they'll be able to sell it.  Otherwise, they will need to get in touch with a junk removal company and pay to have it removed before they do their final move.

Fortunately, there were no bids on it and I canceled the auction.

As far as the EOS goes, I have to bring it in Saturday noon.  Hopefully whatever is going on with it will be covered under my warranty...stay tuned.




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