I bought the Levitan "Classic"--is what I think they're calling it--at the South Central Regional a few months ago. I do not have a very heavy tuning schedule, and the one it was replacing was quite old, from a pile of things a colleague got from a deceased member of our tribe. All that being said, I really love it. As I understand, it is made of fairly ordinary materials, like steel pipe, etc, but it was designed with an extraordinary amount of thought and trial-and error. Things that Bob Marinelli told me when I bought it, if I'm remembering correctly--somebody who knows for sure, please jump in--were: the head is permanently attached to the shaft with a lot of inner reinforcement, making that joint a whole lot stiffer than the removable heads; the angle of head to shaft and length of the head/tip ass'y was experimented with on a lot of different pianos to get a good compromise for strut and stretcher clearance (of course there's no one perfect
recipe for that); the pipe that is used for the shaft has a great compromise between stiffness and weight, making it a relatively light lever that really lets me feel the pin. It has a wood handle that just slips over the end of the shaft, and also slips off easily. I've been meaning to call Pianotek and see if there was a reason for that before I decide to attach it permanently. Maybe the best thing I can say about it is that it inspired me to put away my SATIII and tune aurally. Well, that lasted about two and a half months, but I loved every minute of it. (It just takes me too long.) And finally, the price is pretty compelling. Half to two-thirds of the other horses in the race. I was willing to buy a more expensive one, but I took a chance and now I think I've found a life-long friend. It's just impressive what he was able to do with simple materials and a lot smart engineering.
Patrick Mackey
New Orleans
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