<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Key Bushings</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> I’m just running into all sorts of odd stuff here lately. We have two S&S 45s from 1953 here that need a lot of work.  My first step was going to be to replace the key bushings, but when I opened the piano up and looked at the keys, I found the bushings were set below the surface of the key button, and the wood was deformed right next to the bushing, as if the bushing had been installed in the usual manner, and then punched down almost 1/16”.  I have attached a picture, but it doesn’t  have the detail I would have liked.  All the key buttons are like this, and all the front bushings as well, so I suspect it is factory original.  It really doesn’t look like the results from one of those “key bushing tightener” jobs. I have only worked on a couple of SS45s; has anyone seen this before?  My main concern is that when I try to remove the bushings I’ll take a big chunk of the wood, the part that was punched down, along with it.  I wonder if I ought to just plan on replacing the buttons.  What do y’all think? Thanks, Ken Z. -- Ken Zahringer, RPT University of Missouri School of Music </BODY> </HTML>