I would like to hear from as many as possible. Is there something you use instead of Steinway action parts?
Greetings,
I used a variety of action parts in the 38 years I was at a university. I saw my 1980's rebuilds wear out, though it took the most durable builds about 25 years to justify replacing everything again. I used Abel, Tokiwa, and Steinway,before finding out about WNG. The Tokiwa were the longest wearing parts, mainly focussed on pinning, but including consistency and quality. The Abel's were right behind them, but the Steinway parts they sold in the 1980-2010 years had more irrregulaties, pinning problems, and required more traveling and spacing than any of the others.
This all changed with the WNG parts. After 4 or five semesters, I realized that there was no change in their pinning, and after the first alignmnent in assembly, I rarely had to re=space anything. For years on end. They handled the wide swings of humidity with ease, keeping the same touch and response through all the changes, (something none of the other parts came close to).
I would no more try to build a performance level action with wooden parts than I would try to build an accurate clock out of wood. I also think the if Christifori had had carbon fiber, he would never have used wood for his first piano.
Regards,