I don't recall if this action was from Renner or perhaps Pratt Read. I'm pretty sure that the double flange parts available at the time needed some modification to fit right. Probably really intended to be replaced a couple at a time rather than as a whole set. What I got from NY was a totally assembled action - brackets, rails, whips, butts, damper levers. damper blocks and hammer/shanks were included separately. I'd never done anything like this before, and I did it on my own piano. I eventually sold it for not much more than the cost of the piano (cheap), action parts, labor, and service. We're talking about a seventy year old piano where everything else in the piano was in decent shape. Maybe a piano that's thirty years older would look different from a cost/profit perspective. Good Luck. Carl ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Dierauf" <pianotech at nhpianos.com> To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 1:34:17 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [CAUT] un-lacquered Steinway hammers Yes, I knew that there had been a partial K action in the catalog in the past, but they no longer list it. My understanding is that they get them mostly assembled straight from Renner and install the hammers and fit them to the pianos in NY. Do I understand you correctly that you retrofitted an old double-flanged action with one of these new actions? If so I would love to get as much information about the process as you can provide, as I have long thought that this might make a lot more sense than hanging new Tokiwa parts on the old brass rails, even when those are otherwise in good shape. - Mark Carl Root wrote: <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed"> On Jul 20, 2009, at 2:22 PM, Mark Dierauf wrote: When I was at the NY Tone Regulating class last fall I spoke to Chad about the possibility of getting an entirely new vertical action, with an eye towards the possibility of retrofitting one of the old double-flanged monsters. There was a time when the new K-52 vertical frame/rail assembly was actually listed in the parts list, but that was quite a while ago. At any rate, they had never had such a request, That's odd. I bought a new action from them when the "new" K first came out. Besides installing hammers and dampers, you also have replace the dowel capstans. They were quite helpful . . . even provided blueprints to help with the action placement. I have photos (film, of course) buried somewhere. Carl D. Root, RPT but Chad's response was "If you need one give me a call and we'll figure something out", so yes, they do really see their job as "being there" for the tech community. I'll miss Chad, but I'm sure that Terry will keep up the good work! - Mark Fred Sturm wrote: <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed"> Terry Walsh, who is now parts manager for Steinway (Chad Fry apparently moved to Bolivia to teach English three weeks ago, and Terry was moved over from the selection room), told me at the convention that he will be offering Steinway hammers with the option of pre-lacquered or not. I'm not sure exactly when, but I expect quite soon. He said he had heard a lot of people asking for it in the exhibit hall. A bit of evidence that Steinway does listen, if people actually take the trouble to talk to them (not just grouse among themselves). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu </div> </div> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20090721/6648beaa/attachment.htm>
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