Bryan Cather wrote:


>> "My point is that it is by no means difficult or intimidating,
>> and so as I said I cannot understand why all these players out
>> there that people "restore" are limping along with original valves."


My answer:   Fear!

I would say folks have nothing to fear but fear itself.  Of course,
Bryan has the advantage of my setting before him exactly what he needs
to do the job -- the needed procedures, supplies, gauges, jigs -- and
I am there to ask when he has a question or hits a tough spot.

I can often catch small procedural problems that I know will give cause
to large problems later down the line.  I can help him avoid many of the
mistakes that I have made in rebuilding hundreds of stacks in my time.

My apprentices have a distinct advantage over a hobbyist who has no one
to ask.  He also has to depend on Durrell's catalog to get what he
needs, and I have met several who have had to rebuild the same set of
valves three and four times when those supplies were not quite right.
Perhaps I should expand my apprentice program.

D.L. Bullock    St. Louis
www.thepianoworld.com