[pianotech] Fujan lever w/ Jahn head

John Formsma formsma at gmail.com
Thu Jan 29 20:03:31 PST 2009


Attached are some pictures showing an adapter to allow attachment of a Jahn
head to a Fujan lever.  (Do you call this a FuJahn?)
Materials are simple. First, there is a chunk of 6061 aluminum, turned down
to the correct diameter and threaded to fit into the Fujan handle. This
piece of aluminum is threaded down its middle to receive a stud that goes
into the Jahn head. Screw them together and it's ready.

Why do this?

First, I like the feel of the Jahn tip. And I've been wondering how a Jahn
head with a carbon fiber shaft would feel -- would it be better than the
Fujan head? Only way to know is to try it, but I didn't want to shell out
$265 for a Gluzman, or $215+ for a Faulk. (I'm sure they are fine, but I
already have the CF shaft, and wanted to dink around with this (just for fun
-- always searching for the "perfect lever").)

Second, Jahn heads are considerably cheaper than Fujan heads. If one has an
adapter to attach a Jahn head, he can use various head angles more cheaply
(except for the machinist's setup fee to make these dudes, which was <cough>
a bit higher than I had anticipated.)

Third, one can use the same adapter on the ball end to change it if desired.
(For instance, adding a little extra weight to the end might help with
certain tuning styles, such as the jerk or impact style. Or, perhaps one
wants a different shaped end.) I haven't tried this yet, but might in the
future.


This is only day two of my using it. So I'm not totally sure it's better
than the original. I'll know more after using the Jahn head for a week, then
changing back to the Fujan head. First impressions are good, though. Since
the lever is a bit longer, it has more leverage. Therefore, it's a bit
easier on the joints. I like the feel of it, and it's really controllable.

The Jahn head is a wee bit heavier than the Fujan head. Haven't weighed it,
but it isn't that much more. My thoughts are that anything less than 14 oz.
but is stiff as possible is fine with me. I'd rather have stiffer, and can
deal with a couple extra ounces if I have to.

Any thoughts from you Fujan fans?

By the way, I talked with Steve Fujan recently. He said he might come up
with an adapter to allow the use of a Jahn tip. But he wasn't sure yet if he
would do it. So if you want that, maybe some calls to him might prompt it.
>From my little experience of working with machinists, I can say that mass
production is the way to go. CNC I'd guess, instead of doing it by hand the
way I had to go about it.

-- 
JF
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