S & S capo

[Brent.Fischer@ASU.Edu]

Dear Allen and list:

  I am new to this list and will try to keep my comments brief and polite.
We have
34 new Steinways that are about two years old  and they all have terrible V-bar
noises. Although after many hours of playing time some of problems do disappear
it is still no excuse for the sloppy workmanship which continues to plague the
stringing department at S@S. I think the V-bar itself is not so much the
problem
as is the application of the wire. The Kelly company does an excellent job
of the
V-bar profile and it should just need some clean up when it gets to
Steinway. Where
Kelly fails miserably is in the front duplex bars which are left with epoxy
and paint
on the bearing surfaces and again sloppy attention to detail. Just compare
a Hamburg
plate to a Kelly and you will see what I mean. The front duplex bars should
have
as much attention as the V-bar with emphasis on draft angles and clean, smooth
bearing surfaces. This is not all Kelly's fault since Steinway should take
it upon
themselves to correct these problems as needed as plates arrive to them.

  Allen, in my opinion, the noise problems can be mostly eliminated by careful
workmanship.  Steinway needs to improve in several areas for this to
happen. First,
the bridge notching should be more accurate. There are many times when the
bridge cut
is ahead of the pin line and in the V-bar sections this becomes a huge
problem for
noise. Secondly, when rendering the wire under the V-bar the unison should
be aligned
with just enough tension to hold it in place then very carefully checked
for alignment
again as the wire begins to make an impression in the bar while pulling up
the tension.
The current method at Steinway is to pull up the tension without to much
concern for
alignment because the action regulators have the prerogative to jack the
wire from side
to side as the clock gets closer to quitting time. I have technically
represented
Steinway dealers for years in every possible scenerio and still have the
highest regard
for their company and product but the time it is taking to correct no-brainer
deficienies is appalling. So much for brief and polite.