From a number of things raised in this thread, I am wondering whether the source of much of these issues may lie in "Tropicalizing." Many manufacturers tried to make their instruments so that they would hold up in very humid tropical climates, including such things as adding brads to help hold key buttons on keys. Dipping wooden parts (without bushings, as Horace attests) makes sense if you want to make the wood relatively impervious to moisture, less likely to swell and warp. You would also expect they might add something to the felt bushings for the same reason: impervious to moisture, not intended as a lubricant. And various levels of additives might be used for instruments destined to different climates. Hence the variety of experiences we have with instruments of the same vintage. (Another wild card being what various techs may have added over the years). It makes some sense, anyway. Doesn't get us much closer to the actual materials causing the problem. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm
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