[CAUT] SAMA

[Shawn Brock]

Tim,

my long time friend Craig Russell has used SAMA for at least 4 rebuilds this 
year.  He is always happy with the work they do.  A dealer here in 
Cincinnati had 2 Steinways and a Mason rebuilt by them and I thought for the 
most part they were okay.  I probably wouldn't send them any work that was 
out of the norm.  They seem to do well with common brands and the finishing 
is vary good.  If I was going to go that rout I would probably do the action 
work myself and let them handle the restringing and case work.  My friend is 
in El Paso so he can put the pressure on them if needed.  That could be one 
reason they strive to make him happy.  I can't recall who is in charge but I 
know his first name is Salvador and he lives in El Paso and drives across to 
Juarez to work each day.  I have thought of sending pianos down to them but 
all and all I would rather have the piano here in the shop, even if we have 
to pay so much for refinishing these days.  You can't beat the prices for 
rebuilding and refinishing they offer...  Its a good deal no doubt.  The 
only reason I said that I would probably do the action work is because I saw 
an action that came back from them that needed quite a bit of work to 
straiten out some mistakes, (shank burning and so on.)  They will openly 
tell you that they don't do much in the way of regulating, the best you can 
hope for is the keys are leveled and set to 2.5.  Everything else will be up 
to you.

Regards,
Shawn Brock, RPT
513-316-0563
www.shawnbrock.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Coates" <tcoates1 at sio.midco.net>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 8:23 AM
Subject: [CAUT] SAMA


> Has anyone used SAMA?  Did someone take over for Guy Nichols?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim Coates
>
>