<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Delwin D Fandrich wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style> <blockquote style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </div> <div style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:tcoates@dtgnet.com" title="tcoates@dtgnet.com">Tim Coates</a></div>   <br>Perhaps you would like to revisit Wapin.  Europe seems to be looking for something like Wapin.  There have been European rebuilders inquiring about Wapin. I don't have much experience with European pianos, but I understand they have a very short sustain.</blockquote>  <font face="Comic Sans MS"><font color="#000080">So, my question (mostly, but not limited) to our European list members is -- where has that reputation come from? Was this something that was true in the past but is no longer? Is it still true with some instruments but not with others? Has something changed recently in the overall design and construction of some specific instrument makers which has changed things? Or is this reputation generally unwarranted -- more US propaganda we can attribute to the anti-and-to-hell-with-the-rest-of-the-world leanings of our current administration? In other words, what's up, folks?</font></font> <font face="Comic Sans MS"><font color="#000080">Del</font></font></blockquote> <p>Well, I certainly can not give you a complete history, but I can tell you that I hear a lot of comments on both sides of the pond that seem to have more to do with a kind of rivalry then anything else. There was a time when NY Steinways... you know... those guys nobody seems to want to call by their name when they are downputting them :)..... were the mainstay of the S&S company. But that had to do with WW II more then much of anything else me thinks. <p>Personally, I cant see how the myth of sustain times got started at all. My experience is that in general we are talking about northern Europe, and that generally means a bit more stable climates then in say Florida where one day can be dry as phosphored apricots and the next as humid as an overripe tomato in a sweathouse. In general pianos seem to stay the way they were built for a longer time here then in some places in the US. <p>Bergen is pretty comparable to Seattle weather wise... we get about 70 % RH and  55 - 75 F summers, and 30 % RH -5 to 45 F winters outside conditions. Our freezing temperature days are few, and it seems that inside humidities rarely drop below 30 RH as long as outside temps are above 36 - 38 F. Perhaps you might compare your experiences with pianos that have spent their lifetimes in Seattle with others in more climatically challanged areas. <p>On the other hand of all this... there were a whole spiel of eastern european pianos... DDR and Poland quickly come to mind, that produced a bunch of really dead sustain, thuddy pianos.. Zimmerman was a great example of that. For that matter, some English makes from some years back had similiar qualities. Perhaps thats where the idea got started. <p>Whoooo knows ? <p>Cheers <p>RicB <br>  <p>-- <br>Richard Brekne <br>RPT, N.P.T.F. <br>UiB, Bergen, Norway <br><A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> <br><A HREF="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A> <br>  </body> </html>