to Keith and list

[antares]

> André , List,

Hi Keith McGavern!

> I basically concur with your comment about concert Ds':
 
> "The first years are always the best, and that's the reason why concert D's
> disappear from the stage after just a number of years."
> 
> After hearing a 15 year old one versus a brand new one at a convention many
> years ago, it was as obvious as night is to day.  10,000 angels resided in
> that new one waiting to escape into the world and bring their glory to
> those who have ears to hear.
 > The 15 year old one was dead.  All the angels had flown the coop.
> 
> Keith McGavern
> Registered Piano Technician
> Oklahoma Chapter 731
> Piano Technicians Guild
> USA

Well...what can I say...(?)
I was beginning to think that I was the only one with my ideas about 'new'
sound versus 'old' sound.
To me, it is absolutely clear. My ears are healthy, and, I 'might' add, that
my daily work consists of working with new Steinways and old ones. I can not
deny that there is of course (to me!) a big difference.
However, these last internet days have shown that there are many different
opinions about the very same subject.
The only thing I regretted was that there was no one saying : yeah..of
course! a new always sounds better!
I may have said it before (in that case I apologize), but I have a tendency
to simplify things, and I wish to see these matters as clear and practical
as can be... so no mysticism or complicated stories about old versus new,
the real technical aspect of this issue is not for me to answer, but for the
true 'wood, design, and construction hero's' here on this forum for whom I
have really great respect.
I just can't help it that I like the sound of a new grand better than the
sound of an old one.
Today for instance, I have worked 8 hours non-stop on a STW D at the
Amsterdam Conservatory. I know that instrument very well... I was the very
first tuner to tune it, about 20 years ago, and my wife, who at the time
studied piano there, played her final exam on that very same piano.
When the Conservatory bought it, it was brand new, and it had some nice
aspects, of course. However... soon, it turned out that there were some
problems and especially in the treble. Also, the overall sound was a little
too weak, and all the flanges got 'slow'.
So, after just one year, a Steinway tech came over from Hamburg, stayed one
week in a fine hotel and only did a hammer change, and all that for a
fantastic! sum of money.
15 years later, the instrument got new strings, a 4th set of hammers, new
dampers and bushings, plus a thorough cleaning.
It is now 20 years old and a shadow of what it was before.
That's why, today (a Sunday, and I had to really kick the students out of
the door), I worked like a dog and, with all my experience, tried to bring
back something nice.
So it's a lot better than yesterday ... but what a fight it was! bass and
middle section are beautiful, as always, but that trouble treble! it's
always the same! Whatever we do... we file, we tune, we regulate, we fit the
hammers, we voice, we know all the tricks. so we make something of it, and
we mask the misery of 20 years 'old age'.
My back hurts and I am tired (but then that's our life) and the D is nice,
for some time, but indeed...give me a new one anytime!


Antares,

Amsterdam, Holland