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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=tcoates@dtgnet.com href="mailto:tcoates@dtgnet.com">Tim =
Coates</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=oleg-i@wanadoo.fr
href="mailto:oleg-i@wanadoo.fr">oleg-i@wanadoo.fr</A> ; <A =
title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">CAUT</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> December 06, 2002 6:18 =
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: soundboard =
springs</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<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.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" =
color=#000080></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I've heard this sort =
of comment
before and, while it doesn't really correspond with my experience, =
I've not
really dwelt on it much. When I read it this morning, however, I have to =
consider it in the light my experience of just last Thursday on which =
date I was
in a piano store featuring several European pianos. Specifically the =
Bluthner
and August Forster. All of the instruments on display by these two =
makers had,
without exception, sustain times (including through the notorious killer =
octave
region) that put to shame what we've become accustomed to with those =
instruments
built by the one particular U.S. maker. You know -- the one by =
which all
others are to be compared.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>And my experience with =
the
European-built instruments of that same make has been that the sustain =
of those
instruments is certainly no worse than it is in the US built =
instruments. If
anything the European-built instruments have longer and more consistent =
sustain
times than do most of their US counterparts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" 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></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV>
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