Sounds right to me. I'm glad there are now choices. I think that the independents are independent because they're, well, independent. They may be cranky cusses just like us piano techs, and each of us will get along with certain ones better than others. And please excuse me for repeating myself in the previous message. I first wrote in paragraph form, then in reply form for clarity; then forgot to erase the paragraph. Or I'm getting...what is that word? Oh yes... senile.... BD In a message dated 5/23/2009 2:54:10 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, davidlovepianos at comcast.net writes: I agree with you then. Overall, what I’m looking for in a string maker is: 1. Quality and consistency of windings and that includes matched unisons, equal winding terminations (looks count), accuracy in terms of lengths that I provide. 2. Willingness to work with me on custom scale designs including input if they feel I am asking for something that may have a problem in the design. 3. Willingness to correct mistakes they make without making me jump through hoops, beg or threaten. 4. Reasonable speed and price. 5. Overall pleasant to work with. All of those criteria are met in different ways by different houses and to varying degrees. My own current preference is John at JD Grandt. I know others have been happy with other independent makers and even some larger houses. Each person has their own set of criteria. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of BobDavis88 at aol.com Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 2:04 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Steinway A Bass String Rescaling I guess I didn't understand you. I don't deny that correct scaling is important. I was just saying that in our experience the prowess of the winder was very important too. By the "big houses" I meant specifically Schaff and Mapes, as opposed to the smaller independents. BD In a message dated 5/23/2009 1:36:22 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, davidlovepianos at comcast.net writes: Not sure what you mean by the big houses. Schaff and Mapes, as opposed to the small independents, like Arledge, Grandt, GC, Isaac, Sanderson. I tend to use JD Grandt and have had no problems with mismatched unisons that I hear frequently on Schaff or Mapes strings. That's what I was saying. They can even be the same scale, and the unisons will almost always come out audibly better from the smaller [admittedly more expensive] independents. Similarly, Arledge I don’t see a problem. I’m more referring to the magic of winding versus the importance of correct scaling. Maybe it isn't magic, but their strings do sound better, independent of the scale. That's all I was saying. I may have misunderstood you; I thought "everything to do with scaling choices they make and not the mythical string winder" sounded as if you were dismissing the winder. BD David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of BobDavis88 at aol.com Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:21 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Steinway A Bass String Rescaling In a message dated 5/22/2009 8:49:25 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, davidlovepianos at comcast.net writes: [SNIP]...The rave reviews you hear about the magic of string winding from GC or anybody else and how great their strings sound has everything to do with scaling choices they make and not the mythical string winder they have hiding in the back room. David Love _www.davidlovepianos.com_ (http://www.davidlovepianos.com/) We've been using GC for quite a while, and my sense is that the pairs are more equally wound than strings from the big houses; therefore pairs match each other better up the partial ladder. Apart from the scaling, I do hear cleaner unisons. Bob D ____________________________________ A strong credit score is 700 or above. _See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!_ (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585033x1201462753/aol?redir=http ://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=115&bcd=Maystro ngfooter52309NO115) ____________________________________ A strong credit score is 700 or above. _See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!_ (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585033x1201462753/aol?redir=htt p://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=115&bcd=Maystr ongfooter52309NO115) **************A strong credit score is 700 or above. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585033x1201462753/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=115&b cd=Maystrongfooter52309NO115) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090523/eba3bc2c/attachment-0001.htm>
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