Hi Fred I have a Sauter 220 under my care here in Bergen. Under 2 years old. Its a wonderful sounding instrument with a clarity and fullness I find often lacking in this age where Yamaha has come to dominate so much. It is one of my absolute most favorite instruments really. Tho as much as I like it, honesty compels me to admit that it is anything but free of single string beats. It is by no means plagued by them... but they are there and have been from day one. Cheers RicB Hi Alan, Sauter uses titanium bridge pins on premium pianos (at least the concert grand, maybe a smaller one as well). That's one hard metal. Ulrich Sauter thinks it makes a difference. They also use titanium for a couple other bearing points, and ebony bridge cap in the high treble (again, concert grand). The ebony is dense, hard, and probably the least hygroscopically active (reaction to humidity change) wood around. Me, I was quite impressed by the Sauter concert grand at Rochester. Wish I'd had more time to spend with it. A real showcase of solid termination, and the crystal clear sound you get from it. As for finding titanium pins on the open market, it ain't gonna happen. Sauter has them made to order by a jeweler, as I recall. It's not easy material to work with. Maybe there is something intermediate out there that could be used, if there was enough demand. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu --
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