<!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 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Hey Andy,</DIV> <DIV>I'm not sure if it was stressed enough in other posts, but your tech may not = be comfortable (ABLE to) with brightening the piano.  Most of the new Steinways I see are muffled and require hardening and some light filing = to get the fluff off of the surface of hammers.  Also, seating the strings = will give volume and clarity where it wasn't before.  Steinway expects = up to 10 hours of dealer prep on these pianos. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Make sure that the tech is able to do the job, those are the only hammers = Steinway sends with that L.  Adding hardener is tricky and unwanted noise is = close at hand.  Good luck.</DIV> <DIV> Lance Lafargue, RPT Mandeville, LA New Orleans = Chapter, PTG lancelafargue@bellsouth.net </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV align=left class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr>-----Original Message----- From: = owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf Of AAKStar@AOL.COM Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 12:53 = PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: brightness of Steinways </DIV>Hello, This is my first time posting to the channel. I want = to know how bright a voiced and regulated Steinway should be? The reason I = ask is because a technician just voiced and regulated my Steinway L, and = it sounds so dull and soft that I want to call him back to tell him to re-voice it! But I know he will say that Steinways are supposed to = be textured and less brighter than the Asian pianos. I will = counter by saying that at my local music institute, all of the pianos are "lacquered" to make them quite bright. I love brightness, as long as = it is not metallic or brittle sounding. So my question is, do you = lacquer your Steinways on a regular basis? Because most or if not all of = them come out of the factory quite dull. Andy </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>