This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi Ryan, >I knew I'd get in trouble for my comments! : ) And indeed you did! ;-) Your preference for free-swinging hammers is = absolutely wrong-headed. it flies in the face of what almost every = technician will tell you -- that friction is a *good* thing. Having said that, I'll side with you and Horowitz on this one. To me, = frictiony hammers are like a new pair of tennis shoes. They're not yet = in their prime. Surely we aren't the only ones who have this bizarre = preference. However, it's a preference that is perhaps as gauche as = preferring a frosty glass of Coca Cola to a fine wine. Me? I'm Sarah = Fox, and I'm a Cocaholic. =20 In this world, people are all too timid to state their preferences -- = all too prepared to be told they are wrong. These are the same people = who accept that this or that cannot be done. I guess I learned long ago = not to listen to people who told me I was foolish or wrong. Learning to = listen to myself and regard my own thoughts as valid is the single, most = important factor underlying what successes I have had in my life. (How = else would a dyslexic, ADD kid who was identified in the first grade as = mentally retarded go on to get her Ph.D. and make a few contributions to = the field of theoretical bioacoustics that everyone told her were = theoretically impossible?) I would suggest the same thing was true for = one very celebrated (but wrongheaded) Russian pianist, not to mention = other notables, such as a wacko German physicist, also "mentally = retarded," who changed the way we look at the universe. I'm am grateful = that there are at least a few people who don't listen when others tell = them they're wrong. Rather than for others to harp on why you are wrong, it would be = wonderful if discussion were to center on overcoming the challenges, if = any, of a low-friction action -- or on what the tradeoffs are with other = parameters of the action. Finally, you are quite right about the difference between "free" and = "loose." If you were to equip those hammer shanks with high-quality = ceramic bearings, they would be both rock-solid and slippery-free. = Perhaps Steinway wasn't entirely on the wrong track with their teflon = bushings. Perhaps it was simply a good idea, poorly implemented, and = ahead of its time. I wonder if we shouldn't give it another go -- this = time with teflon-lined carbon fiber flanges and shanks? Yours in peace and heresy, Sarah ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/40/e1/e1/ed/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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