[CAUT] Rubenstien Piano

[Andrew Anderson]

As a Sauter dealer, I was in that same exhibit room and happened to 
notice the piano (kind of hard not too).  The tenor bass is 
incredibly clean.  He didn't choose to make it snarly like Steinway 
goes for.  My wife played it and it did have decent sustain and sound 
throughout the registers.  Definitely in the American tonal tradition 
with a much cleaner bass tenor than you usually encounter in an 
American piano maybe a little brighter in the treble.  The bass is 
incredible in the low notes.  That low C almost sounds like a big 
chopper, it tended to dominate the whole room.
He is very approachable and it was fun to crawl under the piano and 
discuss his belly design.  His next project is apparently going to be 
an 8' grand piano.  He mentioned that a Steinway artist played it and 
sniffed that it was weak in the bass (no snarl).  Amusing to the 
technicians among us--a Steinway would be rather hard pressed to 
produce that kind of volume.

I would not compare it to a Fazioli.  Different cultures 
entirely.  If you don't have a Fazioli to try out, play a Sauter and 
think a cooler, drier sound and you will have an 
idea.  Comparatively, his piano is more American in the treble with 
not quite the power or sustain associated with the better European 
pianos.  My wife and I attended a concert hosted by Mr. Fazioli with 
Vitaly Margulis playing the 9' Fazioli grand.  It was an incredible 
showcase of pianism on an undisputably fine European grand.

Andrew Anderson


At 05:35 PM 3/3/2007, you wrote:
>Well, he may not be a trained piano craftsman, but he certainly is a 
>craftsman.
>
>I designed the scale for the piano and did some consulting along the 
>way offering advice where and when asked. Some of which he followed 
>and some not. One area I wish he had followed a little more closely 
>was with the soundboard -- it's some thicker and, hence, stiffer, 
>than I would like. As is the ribbing. To my ear it sounds voiced a 
>bit too bright to make up for that. It does have good sustain, though.
>
>The scale extends down nine extra keys to C which, having a 
>theoretical frequency of some 16.35 Hz, is more felt than heard. The 
>range below A is much more useable than it is with the Bosendorfer 
>Imperial. At least in my opinion. Oscar Peterson -- the only pianist 
>I've worked with who actually uses those extra lower notes -- would love it!
>
>It's a big piano and hearing it in a smallish room doesn't really do 
>it justice. I've also heard it in David's loft where it seems to 
>open up more. Maybe its psychological, but seeing it at the end of a 
>smallish exhibit room reminded me of seeing a lion in a cage at the 
>zoo. Nice to look at but hardly its natural environment.
>
>Del
>
>
>
>----------
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf 
>Of Richard Adkins
>Sent: March 03, 2007 12:23 PM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Rubenstien Piano
>
>Thanks, it is hard to tell from the pictures. I guess the "agraffe" 
>I think I see on the bass bridge
>is merely part of the exposed front notch. I find it hard to believe 
>this guy did all this by
>himself, not being a trained piano craftsman.
>
>If someone has acutally heard it, I'd be interested to know what 
>they'd say it sounds like.
>
>Thanks for all the replies...
>
>Richard
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