<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16674" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>The sostenuto on Steinways was belly mounted through the 1870s.  A rotating mechanism had arms which a cloth-sheathed wire was tautly soldered to.  There was a little pin on the damper lever that the sheathed wire caught.   More of us have seen 19th century Steinway verticals with the same wire.  It's the same wire.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Steinway went to an action mounted system between 1878 and 1880, depending on the model.  Just as Steinway was done with the bellymounted system it started up the Hamburg factory....which kept the bellymounted system. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bill</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bill Shull, RPT, M.Mus.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> In a message dated 7/18/2008 4:02:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, fssturm@unm.edu writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>On Jul 18, 2008, at 4:10 PM, Ron Nossaman wrote:<BR><BR>> Thanks Fred, I had seen the 1916 patent, but not the 1875, called an  <BR>> improvement in piano attachments. <G> But the text describes it as a  <BR>> cord, wire, or strip, so maybe it doesn't count.<BR><BR>Well,  the strip is a "strip of flexible or rigid material." I think  <BR>that covers the sostenuto rod of current grands, as well as the  <BR>fixture with a piece of cord Steinway used on uprights. The term used  <BR>is "rock shaft" (I guess this means a shaft that "rocks" or pivots  <BR>through a short rotation). He describes in some detail the method of  <BR>mounting the rock shaft to the bellyrail by means of a bracket which  <BR>enables the position of the rock shaft to be "adjusted with great  <BR>nicety." I think it does, indeed, count, and was the obvious forebear  <BR>of all the various sostenuto devices in use today.<BR>    It is quite wonderful to be able to see the drawings and read the  <BR>texts of all these patents from the comfort of one's own home (or  <BR>classroom with WIFI, as has been the case for me today, when taking a  <BR>short breather).<BR>    Now as for when and why the decision was made to change to an action  <BR>bracket mounted system, that remains shrouded in mystery. Perhaps Bill  <BR>Shull can help us with the when. I think one can assume that those who  <BR>made the decision thought it would be an improvement for some reason,  <BR>but didn't find it worthwhile to patent the change.<BR>Regards,<BR>Fred Sturm<BR>University of New Mexico<BR>fssturm@unm.edu<BR><BR><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get fantasy football with free live scoring. <A title="http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020" href="http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020" target="_blank">Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>