brass rail hardware

[Dave Doremus]

On 2/8/04, Dave Nereson said:

>     Not only that, but the screws are too @#*$% long!!


I ran into this recently myself with exactly your frustration and 
solution. It doubled the time. The other irritation I have is that 
damper felt is now way too thick, 3/8 to 1/2", where the old ones 
were 1/4 in the top to 5/16". The new stuff wants to bend sideways 
much too easily, and on some the dampers can not be regulated with 
this thickness without modifying the spring rail and doing a lot of 
spoon bending and replacing the pedal rods. I had some old strips of 
unknown origin, may have even been Tuners Supply, that were less than 
3/8", red backed and sewn in the middle, but I have used them up and 
the available options are not good. The new heads with felt from 
schaff are thicker than the old ones (wood and felt) and made of some 
mystery wood with bad burns on the edges from dull slicing blades. 
Not too mention the new butts, which are all kind of sloppily made 
and too wide, with slots for the springs like the Grand Canyon. Old 
uprights (and y'all may argue with me about this) are generally very 
nicely built instruments and can be very nice again, but not with 
crappy parts like these. I've taken to rebushing, replacing all cloth 
and leather, while keeping the original parts except the shanks. But 
without quality brass and screws, and damper felt, it feels like a 
waste of time. There must be a market for these parts, if they were 
well made.
-- 
----Dave


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Dave Doremus, RPT
New Orleans
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