<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Great article Paul. As is always the case there is so much minutia that go into a fine sounding piano but you gotta figure that the agraffes, capos, bridge pinning and notching and any other variation of string <FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>termination are important enough to demand extra effort. We finished a Bechstein this year and went through the effort of removing all the agraffes for a complete overhaul. I wish I could say for sure that our work on the agraffes contributed to an improved tone, but in all honesty I can only assume. But I feel good about it and they sure look purdy. I don't keep mine in order, do you really feel it helps?</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jude Reveley</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>----- </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=PAULREVENKOJONES@aol.com href="mailto:PAULREVENKOJONES@aol.com">PAULREVENKOJONES@aol.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, April 02, 2006 12:22 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Agraffes</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">In a message dated 4/2/2006 11:10:19 AM Central Standard Time, <A href="mailto:absolutepiano@comcast.net">absolutepiano@comcast.net</A> writes:<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">Steinway agraffes are readily available and buying new will give you that shining brass but as Paul mentions, there's still work to be done even on the new ones.</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12" BACK="#ffffff"><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10" BACK="#ffffff"><BR>Jude, thanks for the mention. As you say, the whole point is not the shininess but the shape on the inside curve which is where the real pay-off is. We just completed a Boesendorfer rebuild (c 1915), and the clarity of tone is startling and wonderful. Of course, it won't last as all things decay, but nicer to start from some level of perfectability than just, as you say, "spray bomb" them. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let us know.<BR><BR>Paul Revenko-Jones</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>