S&S action

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi gang,

I bought a new S&S L a shot of vodka today to shrink a set of jack flange
bushings. Very nice piano, terrific sound. While I was running the hair
dryer, and having nothing more interesting to do, I got to looking the
action over and noticed a couple of things that were new to me. First, the
action rails aren't held in place with huge gobs of solder like they used to
be. The TARs fit in the brackets like they were pressed into holes broached
to the same shape as the rail. There is no obvious filler. Though the joint
is probably sweat soldered, it's a snug fit and the solder doesn't show. How
long have they been doing this? It's very clean, and looks like the end,
forever, of broken joints. Also, I notice that the mysteriously buff tinted
hide glue they used to glue the hammers on has been replaced by a milky
white stuff that looks for all the world like PVA, but without the giant
spun collars evident in other makes using PVA. Footprints of Kawai guys?
Steinway glops this stuff on just like they glopped on the hide glue, and to
the same effect; a good solid glue joint. Just because this is the first
time I've noticed this doesn't mean they haven't been doing it for some time
so, how far behind am I? How long HAVE these changes been in effect?

Incidentally, I checked, and the monkey didn't glow in the dark. Maybe it
wasn't genuine.

    
 Ron