I also went through a lot of frustration with bass strings. I designed my own scales. Sent them to Mapes. The main man there would make a scale stick then give it to the winder. What I received each time was far from what I had ordered. At one point, Wayne told me point blank, "look , I'll make them any way you want to. We shorten the winding because we want to make sure that it don't end up in the agraffe. I't don't make that much difference anyhow." Well, I wasn't going to argue with him. I also realized that after he made the stick he gave it to the winder. Now, I've been to Mapes. It's piece work pay. There are probably fifty guys each with a lathe making strings all day long at a scary pace. They never sit down, never talk to their neighbor except at breaks. It was far worse occupationally, then anything I had seen in the many factories I have been through. If you can imagine, that winder probably resents special orders. He makes split second dicisions when reading the stick and you can bet they are all going to be ones that make his job easier. On the other hand we are extremely pleased with David Sanderson's work. He understands the special order. It is part of his business, satisfying the special order. Check him out. **************************************************************************** Michael J. Wathen Phone: 513-556-9565 Piano Technician Fax: 513-556-3399 College-Consevatory of Music Email: Michael.Wathen@UC.Edu University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0096 http://www.uc.edu/~wathenmj
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