WN&G Action

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message -----
From: Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 7:45 PM
Subject: WN&G Action


> I have a 5' 4" 1903 Everett grand for a project piano. It has an action
with
> WN&G stamped on the action bracket. I have heard of a well-respected
action
> manufacturer with a name similar to this. Is this the well-known,
> well-respected action manufacturer I am thinking of? What can anyone tell
me
> about this action manufacturer? Is this like a really great action or
> something? Thanks.
> Terry Farrell

     According to "Men, Women & Pianos" (Arthur Loesser, 1954, Simon &
Schuster), p. 522, "By 1866 the action business achieved respectability
within the trade and the newly organized firm of Strauch Bros. saw fit to
advertise itself in print.  Only a few years later three Steinway employees
quit their status as hirelings and went into the action business for
themselves under the firm name of Wessell, Nickel & Gross.  They soon became
the largest in the field."
So large, according to an article in the Journal sometime back, I believe,
that Wessell, Nickel & Gross became a household word, at least to
(prospective) piano owners, sort of like "body by Fisher" in the automotive
world, or "Intel microprocessor" in the computer world.  And sometimes a sly
piano salesman in that day would say, without lying, "It's got a wood,
nickel, & brass action", and the unknowing customer would make the
association with W,N & G.
    In over 20 years of reconditioning pianos, I've seen maybe 2 actions
made as well as the old ones by W,N & G  (not the later ones in Aeolian
pianos, which was an insult to the name).  They're just great!  And if they
haven't changed climates much since new, they seem to last forever.  Yes,
they are special -- the Cadillac of actions, as far as I can tell.

    Jack Wyatt has a recent post about one of their grand actions that had a
design flaw, however.  I'm not aware of which flaw he means, but here's an
almost-flaw that I asked about months ago, and received no response:
       Some old uprights (mine's a Hardman, Peck, & Co.) have the W,N & G
actions with the "lost motion compensator" feature.  When the soft pedal is
depressed, a rod running the length of the action, which is linked to and
lifted by the hammer rail, lifts the wippens up so that lost motion isn't
introduced.  Special wippens for these actions have an "auxiliary lever"
between the wippen and the sticker.  All well and good.  However, when you
have to remove a wippen to re-pin a jack or re-glue a jack flange, or for
some other reason, the wippen will not pass between the main action rail and
that "lost motion compensator rod".   When I posted this a few months ago, I
could not figure out how to remove a wippen, yet knew that I had done it in
the past.  Well, I re-figured it out:  You loosen the set screw that holds
the little lifter rod connecting the l.m.-compensator rod to the hammer
rail.  This lets the big rod drop down enough so that the wippen can be
squeezed down carefully below the rod (you have to press a little on the
"auxiliary lever" -- it just barely goes).  Then the wippen and sticker can
be removed out the back side of the action.  When re-installing, ya gotta
really watch the jack so it doesn't end up on the front side of the jack
stop rail.
    Despite, this occasional hassle, it's still a great action.

    On another note, some old uprights (Steinway and very few others, if
any), and a few newer ones (the Yamaha U3, is it?) have a full sostenuto.
I'm surprised W,N, & G didn't do this on their nicer vertical actions, but
maybe they did and I just haven't seen one yet.

    And speaking of Ivers & Pond, they also made some "Cadillacs".  My
neighbor has an old one with, altho' it's a detail,  the most over-kill
muffler rail mechanism I've ever seen, plus a sliding chrome lever on the
bass key block that locks it, or maybe the soft pedal, "on".
     And here it is 100 years later and those pianos still have plenty of
power, sustain, and guts!    --David Nereson, RPT