In answer to the question as to what is the best pneumatic covering
material available today, I would like to share my own experience.
Back in 1977, I rebuilt my Steinway grand Duo Art XR stack with Bilon,
which I purchased from Player Piano Company. For those people who
don't know, this material was made up of nylon sandwiched between two
thin coats of polyurethane. I also purchased PPCo's "Plastic Glue"
which was designed to cement the Bilon.
At that time, many rebuilders told me that I was taking a big gamble
because the Bilon would deteriorate and the plastic glue would not
hold. All I can say is that now, 26 years later, the Bilon pneumatics
on this piano look and play as good as new, and we play this piano
constantly.
The reason I bring this up, is that, contrary to even my own
expectations, the Bilon, thus far has seemed to outperform even the
very best of rubberized pneumatic cloths (which I have also used in
restorations since 1977). While I don't know the answer to what is
the best available pneumatic recovering material today, I can state
with certainty that the Bilon [which I used] has provided excellent
performance for at least the past 26 years.
Barry Dennis
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