Belly Jobs, (was whoops)

[John Musselwhite]

At 08:18 AM 01/05/96 -0600, Ed and Charles wrote:

>>     Not so with any of the factory replacements, IMHO,  they are the surest
>>bet to having your Steinway sound like a Steinway.

>I am not in any position to dispute your experience, but my 25 year
>experience with a variety of private rebuilders is somewhat different.

Ed was talking about "surest bet". There are excellent rebuilders out there,
but not all Steinways get the same treatment. Having the factory do it puts
the factory's reputation behind it.

>Nonetheless, I must put in a word for the many excellent private
>rebuilders, many of whom are your colleagues in PTG. We have had over 20
...
>My personal experience is that the quality of rebuilding in this country is
>at an all time high. I would be interested to hear from others on this
>subject.

I would agree 100% about the high quality of rebuilding in our countries
(Canada has excellent rebuilders too, you know!).  On the other hand, there
are (and there will be more) collectors and purists around who demand the
security of factory certification of restoration work and regardless of how
well done it is, if it wasn't done at Steinway and entered on Steinway's
books they either aren't interested or would devalue the instrument, even if
only slightly.

                John

John Musselwhite, RPT
Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com