Hello all, I am the happy owner of: 1. A 1887 6'1" New England with an Erard type action - our everyday user. "Takes a licking" from the whole family "and keeps on ticking". Solid American workmanship of pre AFL-CIO days :-) 2. A 1896 6'1" Bluthner with a Bluthner patent action. Restoration project in progress. Action is in outstanding shape. The instrument has hardly been played, but the board has collapsed and the sustain is next to zilch. 3. A 1881 overstrung 7'6" Friedrich Ehrbar with a Viennese action. Elegant grand with a deep mellow bass. Dried up hammer cover skin needs replacing in addition to other action work. Next year's project. I got the two latter pianos because I wanted to try playing on instruments with a different type of action. It will be some time before I can play on the Ehrbar, but I am very impressed by the Bluthner patent action. It's extremely light and responsive. Little friction and incredible control. A joy to play. These actions have an undeservedly bad reputation. Seems to me that the advantages of the "double repetition", Erard type action are of an entirely theoretical nature for players like me and probably for the great majority of players whose name isn't Vladimir Horowitz. Would love to hear from others here who have experience with those actions, either as players or technicians. Regards, Jean-Jacques Granas Warsaw
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