Dan, >I'm delighted to hear the news of a new piano factory in Austrailia. The >opening of factories in Europe Asia and now Austrailia testifies strongly for >the health and vitality of the piano industry. I hope you're right, but the new Stuart and Sons factory is not my factory. Stuart is a totally separate operation from the Overs piano. There is absolutely no exchange of information between the two businesses. I mentioned the opening of the Stuart factory on the list since it is local news here, and since the chamber music ensemble which is performing for the official opening (this Monday) is also performing on our piano no. 3 this coming Tuesday night in a separate concert. Stuart and Sons has been the recipient of considerable government assistance here, so it is all happening quite quickly for this company, but they still have to sell their pianos yet. To date, most of their instruments (8 out of the 10 concert pianos produced so far) have gone to institutions with government or benefactor assistance or both. The hard yards may come when they begin selling at the ticket price. >My personal interest in your piano is aimed at the quality of tone. As is my own interest in my own piano. Thank you for sharing it with me. >I'm >hoping the Stuart has a Duplex Scale I haven't been able to determine this from looking at his pianos. He does employ individual blocks on the plate for the front duplex lengths, but I am unable to tell if they are deliberately tuned or deliberately untuned. He uses a hitch pin which is screwed into the plate and height adjustable for the back scale (this is an idea he got from me in a public bar discussion in 1980 - but I have decided against using it anyhow). http://www.stuartandsons.com/Introduction_Photo2.jpg These are not tuned length. Notice that he employs very short back scale lengths. The new 220 cm Stuart piano is nearly ready for release (so my scouts have informed me). Overhead outlines of the two Stuart grand pianos can be found at; http://www.stuartandsons.com/piano_outline_jpeg.jpg (some beautiful html code here on behalf of the web master) Outline drawings of the three Overs grand pianos being designed at present can be found at; http://www.overspianos.com.au/cases.html >as you know the finest instruments in >the world include this feature. Some consider this to be so, but there remains considerable debate regarding the merits of the tuned front duplex. Have a listen to the following MP3 track taken from a recent CD recording of the Overs no. 3 ; http://overspianos.com.au/blcoff.mp3 This piano has a detuned front duplex system - the typical treble 'rattle', which I find very disturbing, is not part of the tonal palate of this piano sound. If you have an earlier windows operating system which cannot play mp3 files, download a free copy of QuickTime for Windows from; http://www.apple.com.au/quicktime/download/ >If Stuart pianos needs any input in this >area, oceans are no barrier. I would love to visit your part of the world if >it would include a professional contribution. You would need to speak to Wayne Stuart about this, but it would appear that Mr Stuart does not normally seek advice from anybody. >Again , Congratulations, and I look forward to hearing and seeing the new >piano. By the way do you have a franchise agent in New YOrk City. This looks >like an interesting opportunity. I am currently building our 4th and 5th pianos (all are 7'4", 225 cm grands). We really do not produce enough numbers per year to be able to support an offshore dealer at this time. I have had a dealer inquiry from Japan and we have an interested party in LA. However, I have not spoken to anyone from New York at this time. In any event, I would want to see the quality of instrument preparation for myself before giving any dealer approval to represent our piano. I regard the quality of service (including tuning and voicing standards) to be every bit as important as the commitment of the dealer. Pianos from no. 006 on will be produced in greater numbers. We expect to be increasing to around twenty pianos per year within five years. Ron O. -- _______________________ OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY Grand Piano Manufacturers Web: http://overspianos.com.au mailto:info@overspianos.com.au _______________________
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