1969 Steinway L CBS?

[A440A@AOL.COM]

John writes: 
>A third picture (actually, genre of them) just came into my mind. This
> includes those of  Velvet Elvis 

      Now hold on a dang minute!  There are few things more inspiring than a 
good velvet Elvis,(unless it is a velvet semi-truck with Jesus hovering over 
the cab, pointing the way around a rain-slicked curve glimmering in the 
darkness.  Few people can pass one of those without at least a moment's 
reflection on the profundity of the concept.  )   

    Actually, I do have a quibble with the oil painting/cheap print analogy.  
I have come across more than a few pre-war Steinways that sat in homes for 70 
years that were in better shape than some of the 1960-1970 vintages that had 
been subjected to similar treatment. The older ones faired better, I think, 
because the wood was better or more carefully seasoned.  
     Perhaps the assembly was better on the S&S pianos with serial numbers 
under 330,000, but that doesn't explain why the shanks were still traveling 
straight while the later piano had them walking like a row of drunks on a 
too-wide sidewalk.  And it doesn't address why the older dampers were still 
moving in straight lines while the later piano had anarchy in the ranks.  And 
there is little comparison on the quality of keybuttons ( or keys!)  between 
the Pratt-Read era Steinways and the ones made before 1950.   Even key leads 
from the teflon era are usually more apt to be loose than those of 70 years 
ago, (Or longer).   How is it that I have seen far more loose leads in damper 
levers on the newer pianos?

   Small details can make a difference, like the key end felt.  I have found 
softer felt on a 1930 piano than on the 1980 models, and that hard felt makes 
a difference in the feel of the key as well as the pedal.  Just hold down a 
chord and work the damper pedal.  How does it feel when those levers land on 
the key?  I hate that hard clunk,  and customers do to when it is pointed 
out.  They even notice something feels better when you change to a softer 
felt and don't tell them!  
     Elvis, you ain't forgotten yet!   
 Thank ya, thank ya verr mush, 
Ed Foote