spinets, etc.

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Musselwhite" <john@musselwhite.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: November 17, 2000 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: large uprights


> At 09:41 AM 11/17/2000 -0800, Del wrote:
>
> >I can find no rational excuse for continuing to build spinet pianos.
> >Regardless of the length of their bass strings.  (I still haven't figured
> >out why they were introduced in the first place.)
>
> They are smaller (lower anyway) and don't overpower a small room either
> visually or aurally, they are lighter and easier to move, especially to
> walk-up apartments and choir masters can see and direct over them.
--------------------------

John, et al.,

(This is not addressed to you specifically, John.  It was just that your
post provided such a great starting point for my rant....)

But the 40" to 43" (102 - 109 cm) console pianos actually take up less floor
space (Usually.  They don't have to be quite as deep and frequently are not
as wide.  At least they don't need to be.), don't weigh any more (Usually.
At least within a given quality level.), don't require the use of drop
action mechanism (Although some did/do to accommodate a 'full-size,
direct-blow' action.), and can be designed to sound very much better.

Yes, I know there were a few 'exceptional' spinet pianos such as the little
Yamaha.  Still, the 40" to 43" (102 - 109 cm) pianos are better by every
measure.  (And, yes, I do know about the so-called compact actions.  I also
know that when properly set up, and with good key balance, they work quite
well.)  Either size can be quite a decent musical instrument through the
keyboard range normally used by the majority of pianists.  I also remain
unconvinced that the spinet was/is actually any less costly to manufacture
well -- that drop action maze doesn't come free and it is no less difficult
to install at the factory than it is to service in the field.

Lest you all think I am simply opposed to small pianos in general, let me
assure you I am not.  I have spent a lot of time pondering ways to make
small pianos sound more musical.  I've taught classes on the subject --
another just last week, Oregon Day -- to illustrate what can be done with
the small grand and I'm trying to write a book on them.  Most, if not all,
of what can be done musically with small grands can also be done with the
small vertical, it just isn't as a rule.  If you're into bass string length,
consider that the A-1 bass string length is about the same in the console,
40" - 43" (102 - 109 cm) as it is in the very small grand, 4' 10" to 5' 1"
(147 to 155 cm).

Cramming the stuff needed to make a piano into the spinet piano's 36" (91.5
cm) overall height brings with it far more problems than those 4" (102 mm)
are worth.  Especially considering that out of the tens of thousands of them
that have been dumped on the market, only a small handful can be considered
anything more than pathetically built, expensive toys that have probably
destroyed more musically developing ears than they have ever helped.

Now, before all the flames start arriving, let me also assure you all that I
am also aware that there is at least one child prodigy in each major city of
the U.S. and Canada that has developed into an internationally-respected
pianist studying and practicing on nothing more than an Aeolian (take your
pick of flavors) spinet.  All I have to say about that is, don't try to use
the exception to prove the rule.  It doesn't work and we are still stuck
with tens of thousands of aging spinets cluttering up space that could
otherwise be taken up with real pianos.

And, yes, yes, I also know that the many people who own these spinets are
still entitled to the best service we can give them, but that still doesn't
excuse the many factories that have built them over the years.  At least the
worst of them are now, mercifully, out of business.

Del