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<DIV>Liszters, </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>About a year and a half ago, I got a call from some people who were
deperate for a string replacement on their piano. I set a date to come=
out
and do the job, as well as tune it. They've been regular clients ever
since. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The piano in question is a Kawai RX-3, around 4 years old. The
teenage boy who plays it is a multi-competition winner, a very powerful
player. At the last appointment in November, I told them that since th=
ey
aren't financially well off, I'd give them a good price for several hours of=
much-needed maintenance. Prior to calling me, they'd had a tuner who m=
ade
his real living as a teacher, and thus had 0 skills with other facets of pia=
no
technology(and precious few skills as a tooner). So the piano had been=
a
bit neglected.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Today I spent 4 hours at the house doing some regulation, lubrication, =
and
tuning. When I arrived, just about every part that could squeak did.&n=
bsp;
Several of the damper underlever leads had been knocked loose(an ongoing pro=
blem
here) and were clacking. What amazed me was the amount of wear in=
the
key bushings. I've seen less play in pianos 50 years older! </DI=
V>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This 16 year old kid has put a lifetime of wear on a piano by playing i=
t
the way he plays it for 2 hours a day every day of the year. And he's
going to Rice next year to major in Bio-engineering...some people have all t=
he
brains and talent!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't have that much experience with people who play this often with =
this
much power. Is it normal to wear out key bushings in less than 5
years?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just wondering,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dave Stahl</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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