Greetings for a healthy and prosperous New Year to all here!  And,
though I wish this could be a happy missive, I feel the need to share
my impressions of the recent on-line lambasting that was exacted on
Craig Brougher for proffering his helpful input to a rebuilder with
less experience and who was, no less, asking for input and help.  The
ensuing backbiting and integrity impugning in this forum was infantile,
to say the least.

I believe that Craig (who is an invaluable resource of knowledge,
experience, and information) has become, simply due to his painstaking
research and exhaustive scientific testing, a guru to some and a
thorn-in-the-side to others.  It saddens me that both the self-
proclaimed experts AND many of the novices here lie in wait for Craig
to share information that he has worked years to cull, chart, and
chronicle (information that would take a lifetime of dedication to
pneumatic instrument restoration and to the scientific method to
compile), to attack him personally rather than to appreciate his
accuracy and attention to detail.  A person with less character (or
an inflated self-image) would hoard the information that Craig so
selflessly shares with those of us who have not had his years of
experience or his drive to compile the tomes of knowledge of pneumatic
instrument repair; knowledge that is gladly imparted to us merely for
the asking.

It also seems to me that it would be wise to give more credence to a
professional than a hobbyist, someone who has perfected his methods
over scores or hundreds of restoration projects, not just the five or
six five many of us have completed. Indeed, an authority who has made
his life's work and a full time living at pneumatic restoration and
enjoys such a fine reputation in this arena.  It is apparent that some
of Craig's worst critics have not had near the experience that Craig
has.  I believe that this has created (in some) a jealousy or envy that
has manifested itself in a propensity to pounce on every word that
Craig offers up.  The bulk of the envy/jealousy is borne out of the
simple fact that Craig can back up each statement he makes with
firsthand knowledge and test data.  How it is that people can so easily
dismiss Craig's comprehensive tests without anything substantive to
counter his findings is beyond me.

Craig's messages here are well reasoned and insightful, he explains
how he arrived at each step of his procedure and how any one of us can
recreate a similar testing environment, if we're of a mind to.  He
considers a test strategy that will not only prove itself on the bench,
but also considers the component's role in the mechanism as a whole, to
ultimately concern himself with the end result, the quality of the
reproduction... and the music.

In future, please stop trying to shoot the messenger, a messenger
who (by his tireless efforts) makes us all look a little less
knowledgeable...

David Fowler


 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ We are struggling, with Karl Petersen's assistance, to present
 [ analytical and empirical data in MMD articles for two purposes:
 [ (1) to disseminate knowledge, and (2) to invite discussion, which
 [ may include differing opinions.  It often takes a long time, and
 [ significant testing by others in the field, before knowledge is
 [ admitted to be fact by almost everyone.  This is the tradition
 [ of the sciences.
 [
 [ I also give my personal thanks to Craig for generously sharing
 [ his knowledge.  I have learned much from his writing, and I
 [ wish I had the time to duplicate some of his experiments at my
 [ workbench.  But, in lieu of that, I want to read the opinions of
 [ other craftsmen and hobbyists.  Eventually I'll know which parts
 [ of the knowledge in MMD are indeed fact, and which portions still
 [ need more clarification and/or research.
 [
 [ Bringing the accumulated knowledge of a craft into generally
 [ accepted "fact" is a tough process, and it cannot happen without
 [ communication between all of the craftsmen and the investigators.
 [
 [ Questioning knowledge to establish fact is welcome in MMD;
 [ we hope it will continue, politely.
 [
 [ -- Robbie