Kawai metal cabinet parts

[Jim Harvey]

Hello Lance,

Thursday, March 4, 2004, 7:55:00 AM, you wrote:

l> Techs,
l> I was wondering if any of you have Kawai studios at schools with the
l> steel front legs/toes.  I have found a few that creak when the pedals
l> are depressed fully.  I have tightened all screws after putting them on
l> their backs, etc. The noise is coming from the metal parts, not the
l> usual pedal mechanisms, bottom boards, etc.  Oil is all I can think of.
l> Thanks.   

Thanks for posting this. I think I learned something. For the second
time today, I'll mention the late George Defebaugh. One of his
expressions was that the Japanese are famous for making wood look like
plastic, and plastic look like wood. He didn't have an equivalent
expression for metal, since there was not a lot of wood to metal
substitution during his tenure with the company.

I was aware of many changes from wood to plastic and wood to metal
during my days at Kawai. Some of the wood to steel substitutions I
didn't especially like (steel keybeds on some verticals and steel
lyre/keybed supports on entry-level grands for example). So when I
asked the engineers about their rationale, the reply had to do with
availability of raw materials (steel is easier to get, often equal or
less expensive), tooling, speed of production, amount of damage and
waste (potential). I just lumped these all under the umbrella of
"resources".

Meanwhile, although I'm out of touch with newer Kawai's, I was not
aware of steel legs and toes. That's what I learned from your post.
Now, for clarification, are these the UST-7, UST-8, or some other
non-institutional type studio pianos?

-- 
Regards,
 Jim                            mailto:harvey@greenwood.net