Re: Sources of Repair Materials
By Bruce Clark
Don Teach wrote a nice note regarding different types of bellows cloth. Unfortunately, one of the player suppliers that he mentions is one that I have had some problems with.
I, too, thought I was buying the best (it also happened to be the most expensive!), but three years later some very nice appearing motor cloth THEN, is NOW showing signs of wear and failure!
An interesting contrast: a friend of mine has a 1931 Chickering Ampico. It has some of the original motor cloth on the rewind and repeat mechanism. It is still in excellent condition and does not leak one bit. He too is a player technician, and I asked him if he was considering replacing the cloth. His response was: "Why should I, it has lasted all these years, and still does not leak. If I replaced it with new material, there is no guarantee how long it would last."
Interesting ... With all the modern technology, why can't they duplicate these quality materials used in the past? I cannot seem to find an answer.
Bruce Clark
[ I asked my tech about replacing the cloth in the drawer of my 1930s
[ Ampico, noting that it had no leaks. The reply was, "It's also
[ almost as stiff as the board it's glued to, Robbie!" Like rubber
[ hoses, I guess that the quality varies from piano to piano.
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(Message sent Sat 18 Jan 1997, 17:06:59 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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