Hi, Fred, At 11:28 AM 1/12/2011, you wrote: > From a number of things raised in this thread, I am > wondering whether >the source of much of these issues may lie in "Tropicalizing." I think that may well be the case. > 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. Right; as well as lacquering/shellacing the keysticks, keyframes, etc...the actual type and amount of things done seems to have varied pretty wildly over time, which partly accounts for the variation which we see in the field. > 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. Yes; and, paraffin (in wax form) is about as innocuous a substance for that as one can find (if one is using wood action parts). > You >would also expect they might add something to the felt bushings for >the same reason: impervious to moisture, not intended as a lubricant. When it's working properly and is carefully set up, I think that the "Teflon II" may tend to do that... >And various levels of additives might be used for instruments destined >to different climates. Yes; and, again, there has clearly been so much variation, that it is hard to tell what might have been used when and for how long, etc. >Hence the variety of experiences we have with >instruments of the same vintage. Yup. > (Another wild card being what various >techs may have added over the years). I think that this is a huge consideration. As discussed on this list and elsewhere, there have been so many different attempts to try to remedy the real and perceived problems with these parts that it's really impossible to know what might have been used. While some compounds have obviously been more effective for a longer time than others, it's also obvious that nothing short of parts replacement is an actual fix. > It makes some sense, anyway. Agreed. >Doesn't get us much closer to the actual materials causing the problem. No, sadly. Best. Horace >Regards, >Fred Sturm >fssturm at unm.edu >http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm
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