In a nutshell, the latest after today's talk with my RPT.  My choice
is down to Abel Encores and Renner Blues.  My tech likes the supplier
to bore and hang the hammers on the new shanks.  Lloyd Meyer of Renner
Blue charges $250 more to do that than Wally of the Abels.  Hammers
per se don't cost much different, except maybe $50 more for Abels,
which is not enough to bother me.

There are three shank choices: Tokiwa, with consistent pinning and
friction from note to note; Renner, which are rather thick and heavy;
and Abel's new shanks, which are said to be thinner and more like the
original 1920s American piano shanks.

So while my email is running 2 to 1 in favor of Renner over Abel,
Renner costs more to hang and limits shank choices.  Did I get this
right?  I hope this is helping the piano fraternity to discuss so
openly.

Thanks again, Mike Knudsen