Public Intercourse WAS: Steinway M

[Bill Ballard]

At 7:09 AM -0400 9/9/03, Farrell wrote:
>I have started writing a long response to this thread several times, 
>but each time ended up deleting.

I agree. When a campfire cook-out turns into a food-fight, the last 
thing I want to show up with as my pot-luck contribution is a 5-gal 
can of gasoline.

>IMHO, it would benefit all if we stick to technical issues, rather 
>than finger pointing.

But when we do get into this situation again, I'd vote for 
finger-pointing, at least where the target is a fellow participant in 
the subject who might like to know that it was him/her being referred 
to. The discussion would also cut to the chase. And finally, the 
rhetorical skills needed to turn out an 11K  sermon on hypocrisy and 
the depravity of the need to posture, without pointing a finger, may 
seem the essence of being a gentleman. But until the target of the 
sharp remarks is specifically identified, the remarks have no 
specific relevance. It takes courage to point a finger, but not that 
much. We all know each other here on this list, and as much as we 
don't like it when the remarks get personal, we're all grown-up 
enough to appreciate when the remarker shows the courage to identify 
his/her target. Eh, Robin?

I learned a couple of things from this thread. 1.) When you're called 
in to evaluate a particular Steinway M, that's what you should do. If 
the customer wants to know whether in general, an M is a good piano, 
that's when those opinions are called for. 2.) There are plenty of 
Steinway Ms which because of their own qualities, never cause the 
subject to come up among technician and owner. 3.) the point of all 
this for us technicians, is that if we just do our job (making a 
musical instrument out of a piano) and not worry about who else in 
line before could have done theirs better, once again, the subject 
won't come up. and 4.) this list is alive and kicking.

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"No one builds the *perfect* piano, you can only remove the obstacles 
to that perfection during the building."
     ...........LaRoy Edwards, Yamaha International Corp
+++++++++++++++++++++