John, That would depend on the quality of service provided by your dealership. Steinways come virtually unplayable from the manufacturer and the dealership is expected to prep the piano to the customer's requirements. Essentially the dealer's (or your) technician should go through all the steps in the Steinway service manual with each piano, especially for the performance instruments. This can amount to several days per piano depending on the condition it arrived in. Additional work: Polish the capstans and keypins with Flitz if at all discolored or any roughness/friction is detected. lube capstans, keypins, damper wires through the glides with Prolube (helps protect against oxidation) lube key bushings, whippen heals, keyend felt (underlever contact), jack regulation buttons, hammer knuckles with microfine teflon powder (doesn't attract moisture or accumulate grime) TFL (teflon) or teflon powder the contact of keyframe with the shift return spring and with the keybed. MPL lube the guides on each end of the keyframe going into the cheakblocks Prolube the pedal rod guides and teflon lube their contact points. Establish positive (felt damped) stops for the pedals under the keybed (big headed lag screws), especially the shift pedal Go through the hammers and check grams tension on the hammer flanges (lube with cpl or repin as necessary, this has a big effect on voice) In the hall and storage areas be very strict about maintaining a piano friendly environment. Steady relative humidity (40% low end, 55% high end and preferably no more then a 5% swing) and temperature are essential to stable tuning and regulation. What is more, this is essential to the long-term life of the instrument. I have a B here that was stored in a hallway where humidity swung from 35% to 88% RH. There are glue joints failing throughout the action probably throughout the piano construction as well. Until this happened no-one wanted to seriously consider my warnings. After play-in more regulation will be needed as the contact points (felt and leather) adjust to usage. Pianos with a regular playing schedule will need annual regulation but the time required to do it will drop as the parts settle into their used state. You should maintain a parts inventory onsite for your performance instruments containing a stringset, a couple spare whippens and hammer shanks and flanges. This especially if you have only one model of the given piano. There's nothing like loosing a monochord on a D during a pre-concert rehearsal and then finding out that there are no replacements in-state that can get to you in time for the concert. Same thing for broken action parts. Steinway wasn't selling spare parts kits last time I called so you may choose one of the other fine makes to have emergency spares on hand for just such an occasion. We have couple each of Tokiwa parts to cover for broken inventory here. I recommend Abel Encore but would have to check if they break up sets to sell little kits like that. Good luck with the piano investment. Hopefully none were stillborn from the factory. If any are found to be problematic don't hesitate to aggressively insist on a replacement. The longer you wait the greater the resistance to dealing with a problem instrument. I know of a D being replaced by the factory. I know of another that they didn't get around to addressing the issue until the short warranty was almost over and the dealer dragged her feet, sent her technician who obfuscated, flattered, denigrated his colleagues doing whatever it took to slow them down. The short warranty expired and now they refuse to talk about the issue. No one wants to play the D there after he worked on it. The B has become their instrument of choice, clicking glue joints and all. Andrew Anderson On Nov 26, 2008, at 5:45 AM, John D. Chapman wrote: > Our music department just received four new Steinways: one D, two > Bs, and an A. Other than the obvious tuning and voicing, what > immediate prep would you suggest? > John Chapman > Wake Forest University > Winston-Salem, North Carolina >
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