<!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 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman" text=#000000 = bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dave; I would be very surprised if = Steinway ever even attempted any improvements. Look at what happened the last time = they tried; Teflon bushings that we're still replacing. So, instead, they're going = to go for what works in the market, name brand recognition. As far as I can tell, = that's the main thing they have going for them, so they rely on that. I've seen = quite a few "dogs" with the Steinway name on the fallboard, and to be honest, = some truly wonderful instruments too. I guess it depends on what day of the week it = was built. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    If they were = interested in making a piano that was easier to work on, how about getting rid of that = antique sostenuto system that they use? I don't think they could get burned by = going to a more modern design, say, one that's only been in use for fifty or so = years, do you?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>Kevin E. Ramsey<BR><A href="mailto:ramsey@extremezone.com">ramsey@extremezone.com</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=dm.porritt@verizon.net = href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">David M. Porritt</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> Thursday, May 02, 2002 = 5:27 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> improvements</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>While looking at the cover of the current Piano Technicians = Journal, I got to thinking about all the ads and articles about new and improved pianos.  Yamaha has come out with their "S" series, Kawai the = "RX" and now the Shigru.  The artical about the NAMM show detailed many improvements in several other pianos.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Why is it that the only news from Steinway has been about new looks?  New furniture around the same old scales.  The = picture on this month's cover is impressive, but it's the same old "D" = inside.  Have they really already attained perfection?  Inquiring minds want to = know.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>dave</DIV><PRE>_____________________________ David M. Porritt dporritt@mail.smu.edu Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 _____________________________</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>