Was 'Short Treble' - trial by Calin T.

[Overs Pianos]

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>Ron Overs wrote:
>
>If a factory, which lays claim to making a quality piano, can't even 
>get the bridge pin field laid out so that the pins don't run into 
>each other below the bridge cap, I can't see the point in contacting 
>them to tell them about it. After all, most messengers usually get 
>shot, and what would a small time piano re-builder down in the 
>colonies know about the problem anyhow?
>--------
>
>Indeed, and a fair question I would say. At the least, it is the 
>first question that comes to mind when confronted with someone who 
>fanatically maintains their own superiority over virtually every 
>other instance in his/her field. This type of individual is found 
>many places doing many things, and eventually they all suffer the 
>same pointless fate.
>
>Calin Thomason.

And thank you for your kind words Calin. After such an informative 
contribution, I couldn't resist searching the archives for more of 
Calin's little gems.  My quest turned up the following;

At 8:17 AM +0100 24/9/03, Calin Thomason wrote:
>  . . . the other Aussie designer. His action is
>not much more then a modifed Langer from 1905 or so.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Langer action to which 
our Pianotech critic refers, an image of it can be found on page 90 
of Alfred Dolge's Pianos and their Makers (a must-have for every 
technician's library). To put you all in the picture of  my 
'trial-by-Calin', please find an image below, of the Langer 1909, to 
which Mr Thomason makes his comparison.


If your email programme can't view the image, you can find it at;
http://overspianos.com.au/lngr1909.jpg

While I am quite willing to admit the two actions have a couple of 
unusual features in common, a shorter jack centre to wippen centre 
distance relative to the contemporary crop of actions, and a shorter 
repetition lever with a lower centre pin height. There are numerous 
differences in the detail between the two actions. Over the six month 
period that I designed my new action, I admit to having a Steinway, a 
standard Renner and a Rogers wippen on the computer desk for 
reference during the design process. However, the resultant action 
shares virtually nothing in common with these three wippens. The 
shorter wippen of our action and the Langer is a case of convergent 
evolution, and I feel certain that most of you will agree that there 
are many more-than-cosmetic differences between the two actions.

Two images of the Overs action can be found at;

http://overspianos.com.au/actn.html

In particular, with the Overs action;

1) the jack tender (tail) is a completely new design.

2) the repetition lever spring is a new design which is, to my 
knowledge, the only spring which acts on the wooden levers directly 
but without rubbing at the contact point (while the spring-with-loop 
type is capable of similarly low friction, it is slightly more 
expensive to manufacture). Furthermore, the Langer has a separate 
spring for the jack and repetition lever.

3) the wippen helper spring has a tension adjustment screw and an 
extra coil on the wippen assist spring to reduce the undesirable 
variation of assistance when there are only two coils.

4) The drop screw is positioned on the hammer side of the hammer 
centre, to reduce the friction between the drop screw and the 
repetition lever. (The drop screw friction cannot be minimised to the 
same degree as was achieved with the other friction surfaces on the 
Overs action - during a recent patent search it was discovered that 
this feature is prior art).

5) The capstan/heel design is to my knowledge unique to our piano action.

Might it be, that what appears to be a reasonably sustained level of 
criticism from Mr Thomason, is little more than the protestations of 
a 'Steinway prophet'. In support of this possibility, I include below 
another informative C. Thomason bulletin from September 8 past.

At 4:14 PM +0100 8/9/03, Calin Thomason wrote:
>I get sick and tired of all these claims of how Steinway 
>manufactures pianos that self destruct before they get to the 
>dealers floor. Oh I understand the theory well enough,  but its a 
>bunch of overstated malarky. Anyone with the slightest hint of 
>objectivity can see that there are thousands upon thousands of 
>instruments produced by Steinway & Sons out there in the world. 95 % 
>of the concert venues use exclusively Steinway. We find instruments 
>of 100 years age functioning perfectly well literally everywhere.
>
>To deny this, or attribute Steinways success entirely to something 
>as banal as marketing skills is simply ludicrous. To tell the 
>millions of us out here that we are screwed up because we actually 
>enjoy these instruments, actually far more then anything else we 
>have run into... is insulting. To turn around and expect any of us 
>same to place even a thumbs trust in those of you who come with such 
>offerings is just plain amazing. Not in this life !

Don't worry Calin, I wouldn't read those nasty claims any more if I 
were you, and I apologise for encouraging you to place a thumbs trust 
in anything. You just go on enjoying your hundred year old Steinways. 
It was rather silly of some of us to think that we might have been 
able to make a difference during our own lifetimes. Why of course, 
the real difference was made by that one factory which came into 
existence in 1853, and shone like a beacon since that 'dawning of 
knowledge'. And with all the computer power and materials knowledge 
which exists at this time in the evolution of the acoustic piano, it 
isn't worth a jot.

Ron O.
-- 
OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY
    Grand Piano Manufacturers
_______________________

Web http://overspianos.com.au
mailto:info@overspianos.com.au
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