August Forster Grands

[Newton Hunt]

Hi, Avery,

Idiosincratic is a good discription of earlier August F.'s.  

The newer ones have renner actions and should have to problems.  If it
is about 15 to 20 years old it may have a Finish action that is a real
bummer of an action to regulate.  You will be able to tell the
difference once you pull the action.  With the finish action you will
need to set your let-off at 1/8".  Have a creful look at the pinning as
well.  If there is a pinning problem procede with great caution.

I like the tone of the AFs, but they are sensitive to humidity.  There
where build behind the iron curtain, but I have not seen one made since.

If at all possible I would go and evaluate the instrument before
committing to a concert.  You may need to spend a lot more time on it
than just a tuning.

Lots of luck.

	Newton
	nhunt@jagat.com