<HTML>Dear List, I take care of 4 concert grands plus 2 other smaller grands at the Frank= Lloyd Wright estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin (about 35 miles west of Madi= son).  There are 2 Bechsteins and 2 Steinways, all over 100 years old a= nd all have been re-whatevered over the years. A few years ago, the Bechstein in the theater received a new action whic= h did improve it quite a bit.  The person who did the work tends to use= softer hammers with the Steinway like philosophy that over the long run, th= ey will brighten up.  When it was first delivered, it played well but w= as entirely too soft.  I ended up doing what I have done many times wit= h great success.  I put a tiny amount of very dilute hardener on the st= riking surface of each hammer.   I do this because I know it will have an immediate effect but will not r= uin the rest of the hammer.  The strings will eventually cut through th= e area of felt I treated and it will be filed away in the future.  It t= ook all of 5 minutes to do and everyone was thrilled at the results. Now, however, the very fine concert pianist who performs there with his = ensemble in a series of concerts in late July and early August wants somethi= ng more than what the piano has to offer.  He likes the old Steinway wh= ich is in the dining room and which the choir uses to rehearse with better e= ven though it could really use complete restoration, itself.   Expense has always been a problem for the Frank Lloyd Write foundation b= ut apparently they will pay me for a day's work for whatever I can do to mak= e this piano better for the upcoming series.  Below are the pianist's r= emarks.  Some of them seem contradictory.  Frankly, I didn't perce= ive any particular problem with it when I tuned it on June 7.  It alway= s stays in tune so well from one year to the next that I can get it tuned in= about 30 minutes. When trying to make a piano better, I always look for the worst thing ab= out it to correct first.  I think that part of this piano's sound may b= e due to some loss of crown over the years, something which could only be co= rrected by installing a new soundboard, something which is beyond what I cou= ld do.  I'm inclined to think that the usual, align & file the hamm= ers, go over the regulation completely and leave a minimal amount of after t= ouch, plus use again a scant amount of hardener on the hammers would provide= what this pianist is looking for.  It appears that I also need to look= at the damper lift although I don't recall anything out of tolerance about = them. List, please read what the pianist has to say and give me your advice ab= out what to do for a day long concert prep of this piano.  Again, tunin= g will be the least of it, probably about 30 minutes. "Bill, here is a copy of Jeffrey's email to me describing his "wish list= " for the Bechstein.   I know you can work your magic, and thank you for scheduling it. . .  Glad= you will be able to do it on July 26th. . . Thanks, Susan ---------- From: Jeffrey Sykes <jrsykes@mindspring.com> To: Susan Lockhart <lockhart@franklloydwright.org> Subject: Re: BDDS concerts at Hillside Date: Tue, Jul 2, 2002, 12:26 AM hi there, you are so kind to think about this.  the bechstein DOES cause me a= certain frustration.  i WILL say, however, that it has improved greatly sin= ce the work done on it several years ago.  you know i love the steinway th= at's in the dining room.  i wish that you could trade the two pianos, but i understand that may not be possible for a variety of reasons.  the = steinway has a fundamentally "concert hall" sound (big, round, beefy, juicy, gold= en, sunny)--the bechstein has a fundamentally "living room" or "background" sound (softer, gentler, whispery, , moonlight, silvery) and that's just = how those pianos are. OK, i'm going to pass this on to stefanie jacob for her thoughts, too, b= ut here's what i think: € there are some things which are basic to the nature of bechste= ins and that piano in particular.  those are things that will never change no ma= tter what.  however, within those limits, there's a lot that can be done= . € it takes a LOT of effort to make a big sound.  partly thi= s is voicing, partly action regulation, partly brightness.  on the whole, the pia= no could use substantially greater brightness all over.  more "ping" in the = sound. less "dying away" and much more "sustain" in the sound.  i would li= ke it to be much easier to get a full, bright, singing sound out of the instrumen= t. i would rather have to work hard to play softly than to work hard to pla= y loud.  the former takes control and thought, the later takes muscul= ar effort with this piano, and it's exhausting. € i want the action to be first of all more even across the boar= d--a complete regulation would fix this--but also to be a tad more resistant.=  it feels a little bit flabby playing that piano, like the keys go down too quickly.  the action is a tad too light.  generally, bechstein= s are noted for having light actions--but this one is pretty extreme. € the dampers and pedals need fine-tuning.  they do not dam= p evenly and precisely.  also, they don't lift evenly or, i believe, high enough= off the strings when the damper pedal is depressed.  for the damper pedal, = there should be a tiny, tiny bit of "dead" space (before it engages the damper= s), then the possibility of raising the dampers to different heights off the strings to the maximum allowable height.  the pedal seems like it's= either on or off w/o any in-between possible." Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l= b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A> </HTML>