CRESCENDO GRAND PUNCHINGS

[Ric Brekne]

List:

I have read the recent and rather sudden appearances from Mr Stanwood 
and feel it is rather important to have it said that Mr Stanwood, and in 
particular his Dutch representative who is a competitor with Andre in 
the Netherlands have a history of, shall we say disagreement with Andre. 
In each case, the antagonists are the same, and they pop up under 
similar circumstance.  In my opinion, having some degree of intimate 
experience with all three gentlemen, and their disagreements (all three 
having lived with me in my house here in Bergen for a weeks time) I have 
no doubt as to credibility issues, both professionally  and personally 
to the degree these latter touch on the former.  I find it very odd 
indeed also that Mr Stanwood should accuse anyone at all of using this 
list or any other PTG resource as a medium for spreading information 
pertainant to a commercial product. In that regard I should say that 
Andre's promotionals are indeed quite modest when compared to 
Touchweight Design touts throughout the years.  Personally, I find 
neither a problem and welcome constructive dialog as to the benefits of 
any new product. But for either of these gentlemen to accuse the other 
of misusing the list is IMHO beyond being out in right field.

I would also point out that the only real (in any sense of the word) 
research done so far relevant to the punchings at hand has not been by 
Mr Stanwood, but rather by Dr. Stephen Birkett, and that has been 
positive. Looking at felt through a microscope can only reveal the 
degree of fineness of wool fibers used in a felt, and nothing more. 
Claims about the technical correctness of the use of cloth vs felt are 
simply ungrounded at this point one way or the other. As are claims as 
to why.  There simply has been no study to even look at the question.

One other point David.  I have three individuals, one professor and two 
students who immediately sought me out after I replaced a set of these 
punchings on a Yamaha C6. That is all I did, nothing else. Their 
response was on the next day.  One complemented me on a fine voicing 
job, the other two commented on the increased response from the piano.  
Changing punchings yourself with a pre-desposed attitude towards a 
negative reaction is hardly an moment of scientific worth.

Respectfully
Richard Brekne

Dear Andre and Jurgen,

Feltmakers all have their "secrets"  but in the end it is the quality of the fiber that makes the felt what it is.  
Your felt is nothing special as to the orientation of fiber.   The fibers generally run laterally through the sheet
because you see cut ends of fiber on the side and not on the top surface.   If the fiber is as fine as you claim then
I applaud your effort.  If your punchings were made of Wurzen woven felt I would probably buy a set tomorrow and try them.

I still would refer technically to your felt as a pressed felt meaning that it is composed of simple fiber without woven 
fiber.   I did not mean to infer that, after your felt was fulled and dryed, it was pressed with dry heat to make it denser.   This would be a "cheap" way of making the felt denser.  Felt like this expands when exposed to steam which it seems yours does not.

Again I applaud and support your effort to produces hammers and felts using high quality fiber and I wish you the best of 
luck.  Time and lots of experience will tell if all your claims are true.

I have access to a scanning electron microscope.  If I can find the time I would be happy to examine some samples of your 
felt and report on the fiber diameter and construction properties.

To be honest I think that you both should tone down your posts in respect to promoting your product.  This list should not
be used for promoting products.

David Stanwood