Rail Cloth

[John W. McKone]

John Musselwhite wrote:
>
>The reason I put it there is because the factory specs call for it to be
>there. Normally I don't take all the hammers off at once anyway, so I just
>leave the original cloth if it and the rail in good shape.
>
>When I service a Steinway for a customer one of the ways I sell a major job
>is by emphasising the use of Steinway parts and techniques. While other
>parts may be more suitable either for technical or personal preference many
>of my customers have insisted on "original equipment parts" and sometimes
>even want the end-flaps off the new cartons and samples of the original parts.
>
>While replacing the damper back-action, hammers etc. with Renners may be
>practical, I've run into more than a few owners to whom NY factory parts are
>what makes it a "Steinway".
>
>                John
>
>John Musselwhite, RPT               Calgary, Alberta Canada
>musselj@cadvision.com       john.musselwhite@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca

I would submit that if our mission is to rebuild a piano to "steinway
specs", then using Steinway parts is not always the best way to do so.

I have always found Renner parts to have a quality control far beyond
anything S&S has been able to provide.

I too have clients that want the "Genuine Steinway" box.  I try to convince
them (often quite succesfully) that what I hear them telling me is that
they want the piano to feel and sound like a Steinway, and the best way for
me to provide that for them in a rebuild is to use the highest quality
parts available.

Just because it has the name on the box, doesn't mean it does the job.

John McKone