key bushings

[Richard Brekne]

I dont think Del was actually attempting to make a case for Russian
Pianos in general, as much as he was pointing out how many good
inventions through the past have just been ignored or left in the
proverbial dust for no real good reason.

I thought it was pretty cute really. Tho I aggree with your experiences
otherwise with the Russian piano building industry. One of the worst
I've seen was something called "Etyde". You never knew exactly what to
expect... one day you would break a tuning pin on one and the next one
you ran into might have loose pins, or you might even pack one out of
the crate and watch it literally explode before your very eyes. 

RiCB

> Otto Keyes wrote:
> 
> This is quite a contrast to the Russian console I did for a friend
> several years back.  It had floated in somebody's basement for awhile
> before he hauled it away.  As a cabinet maker, he made a whole new
> case for it, while it was my task to glue the rest of it back
> together. (You know the dumb things friends talk you into, & you kick
> yourself because you really do know better, but you're in too deep, &
> he already has the case made for it.)  The case ended up being the
> best part, but it did work & sound somewhat like a percussion stringed
> instrument when it was all over.
> 
> The casting of the plate was all over the place.  Action quality &
> geometry would have made even Aeolian cringe.  The screw slots were
> nowhere near the center of the screws.  It did not have those neat
> adjustable key bushings.  A Polish pianist friend said it was a 2nd
> quality of 3 in the Russian piano industry of the time.  I'd sure hate
> to have seen the 3rd.  That was one I was glad to see the back of, but
> they are still enjoying it today.
> 
> Otto
> 
>

-- 
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
UiB, Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html