Hi Argoth,
Thank you for the great words of wisdom. I agree with everything except placing a plaque with a name or names on an instrument. It then becomes a "sacred cow" that can never be 'forsaken' should that need arise. I've seen this happen with a piano - "given to the glory of ... ... " by Mr & Mrs Whomever etc., in a special dedication service. The piano that was donated turned out to be a cheap piece of crap, plastics used where wood is normally used in action parts ... under weekly use, several plastic hammers (yes, plastic with what looked like gauze pads glued on them) eventually broke and compatible parts could no longer be found as replacements.
Besides a complete overhaul, exceeding well over 10 times what the piano was worth, there was little to do except cover it and store it in a corner of the room. There it remained, silent and dusty, and never be played again. Because of the plaque, this 'thing' (Sacred Cow) couldn't even be used for firewood - probably wouldn't have burned anyway.
Thank you for the great words of wisdom. I agree with everything except placing a plaque with a name or names on an instrument. It then becomes a "sacred cow" that can never be 'forsaken' should that need arise. I've seen this happen with a piano - "given to the glory of ... ... " by Mr & Mrs Whomever etc., in a special dedication service. The piano that was donated turned out to be a cheap piece of crap, plastics used where wood is normally used in action parts ... under weekly use, several plastic hammers (yes, plastic with what looked like gauze pads glued on them) eventually broke and compatible parts could no longer be found as replacements.
Besides a complete overhaul, exceeding well over 10 times what the piano was worth, there was little to do except cover it and store it in a corner of the room. There it remained, silent and dusty, and never be played again. Because of the plaque, this 'thing' (Sacred Cow) couldn't even be used for firewood - probably wouldn't have burned anyway.