SV: Recommend Rebuilder? / Ron Overs

[A440A at aol.com]

Ric writes:

<<  The choice here is not so much who does the work first and 

formost... but what kind of a rebuild one wants.  If you want to go as 

authentic in the eye of the market, and perhaps stay as close to 

tradition as possible.. then perhaps the Steinway rebuild shop is the 

place to go.  >>

Perhaps, but perhaps not.  
    It depends on what you mean by authentic.  More than a few "traditions" 
have been left behind.  The modern factory boards are not the same as the 
boards of the 1920's.  Different grade of wood, different adhesives, and from what 
I can measure, different means of tapering the edges.  There is certainly a 
different standard of craftsmanship, particularly in the notching. The fitting 
of the boards into the cases also seems to have allowed the ends of the ribs to 
be slightly short of the case sides, which, imho, has profound implications 
for the entrainment of the structure. 
       I have also been wondering why the modern Steinways, both production 
and restoration ones, have so many more false beating strings than instruments 
of 70 years ago. And I wonder why I have seen more than a few bass strings 
from the 1910's through the 1960's that sounded better than the current 
production.  
     Same goes for their action work. Different ratios, different hammers, 
different quality control.  
It is so easy to say "factory=original quality"  but that is not what 
happens.  Truly authentic would mean doing it the same way it used to be done, and 
that is simply does not appear to be the case, today.
 
Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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