A piano of that vintage did have the stiff fibre sostenuto tabs. The spring loaded version is a dramatic improvement. Since she is an accomplished player she will appreciate the improvement. The difference between the two is the affect upon release of the sos pedal. With the fiber tabs, the rod thumps on any lifted underlevers; if they are individual notes then the thump is felt in the keys (annoying), if it is the damper pedal then a louder thump is heard. with the spring tabs, the rod just glides right by them. The Renner USA Kit is cheaper than buying it from S&S and you are guaranteed a proper fit. New S&S underlevers are Renner anyways. The instructions are simple and the assembly can be duplicated in a few hours. For measuring the spring tension I raise/support the tray and on the workbench and individually rest the underlevers on a gram scale. Measurement is taken at about the rest position. Go for it, Jon Page At 12:41 PM 12/28/99 -0800, you wrote: >Jon: Thanks for your input. This is a 1909 vintage Steinway that was >rebuilt, and I don't be believe they replaced the old levers with a new set. > > >>Lots of good suggestions but I would like to add a possible need to >>adjust the assist spring tension. Depending on the age of the piano >>they might be absent. A new set of underlevers is in order if the sostenuto >>tab is older stiff style. Is this a 20 yr old piano? >> >>To adjust he tension, I can't think of any other way than to remove the >>lifter tray from the piano. In the Renner USA Underlever Replacement Kit >>there is a suggested weight/tension for each section. >> >>Twenty year old felt should still be OK but with a critical customer such as >>this, >>I would go ahead and replace the damper felt and the guide rail felt. >> >>Regards, >> >>Jon Page, piano technician >>Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. >>mailto:jonpage@mediaone.net >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> > Jon Page, piano technician Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. mailto:jonpage@mediaone.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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