I had the opportunity to try out a Fujan lever today as well as a Faulk
titanium. My colleague has both
. I think he is just as mad as me
.
I didn’t like the look of the length of the Fujan, so I tried out the Faulk
first
. Length good (for me)
handle too thick for me
. Don’t like the 15
degree angle
so not for me
. Too used to 5 degrees
My colleague told me that I would need to tune at least three pianos to get
used to the Fujan, but after 3 tuning pins, I was hooked! I could control
the pin so much better. The lever is the shorter shaft, with 5 degrees, with
the 5/8 tip extension and the rosewood “knob” It is also armed with a
Watanabe #2 tip. I thought that the knob would drive me crazy as well as the
length, but got used to it quite quickly. I found I could move the pin in
extremely small amounts, when previously I had preferred a shorter lever.
The only criticism is that I had to stand up to tune the high treble in a
grand as I couldn’t reach that far.
Now the difficult part
. $ 355.00 in US dollars
. Equals about $ 545.00 in
Australian dollars (THANK YOU to the providers of the global recession and
the mark down of the aussie dollar) and then I need to pay postage
probably
another $50-60.. Air mail is 5 days, surface
. Don’t want to know
. And I
will need another lever bag to fit
That’s all, so it still comes down to what suits the user
I’m glad I had
the opportunity to try out these two levers
. Now I don’t like my Jahn
My Missus would go bonkers if I spent all that money for a dust
collector
.
Regards
Brian Wilson
_____
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of John Formsma
Sent: Thursday, 26 March 2009 1:10 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] new Faulk lever -- compare with Fujan?
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 9:27 PM, David Nereson <da88ve at gmail.com> wrote:
<< I am finding more flex than I like with the new lever.. this is getting
expensive! . . . . .
Bruce Dornfeld, RPT
bdornfeld at earthlink.net
North Shore Chapter>>
Exactly. I've also been thinking of getting a Fujan or Faulk, but I
can't just toss around $300 here, $300 there.
Me either. And I was almost ready to order the new Faulk, having read the
glowing reviews. And I still might. If there is a return policy (just in
case).
There doesn't seem to be much conclusive evidence favoring one brand or the
other. Yes, I know you can return them after 30 days if not satisfied. But
there seems to be too large a gray area in stiffness when it comes to the
interface of heads and tips with the handle.
I do believe Kent and Mike are correct about the head and tip making a big
difference. The Watanabe on my Fujan is loose, but nothing too hard to get
used to. I do prefer a Jahn tip, though. The #3 feels better to me than a
#2. But ... it might be the individual tips I have, since there apparently
are differences in manufacturing.
With the Fujan, it's good to make sure the threads are tightened quite
tightly at the ball end and head end. It affects the feel significantly.
Which lever is the most tolerant of frequent tip/head changes? I find
myself doing that quite often because of "overhangs" on upright plates,
exceedingly tall plate struts on grands, having to tune pianos that've been
re-pinned with anything from #3 to #7 (yes, #7) pins, etc. Don't know how
to decide.
I know with the Fujan, I've changed the heads numerous times. No sign of
degradation. But the heads are $90, which is somewhat prohibitive if you've
already spent $325 for one lever setup. I've never changed the tip on mine.
I keep a homemade lever with a Jahn 15º head for those pianos with clearance
problems. It's a 1/2" solid steel shaft with a billiard ball on the end.
About 9 inches long, and it's pretty heavy. Got the idea from Ron Nossaman
some time back. It works well, but I still keep going back to the Fujan.
(Although I do prefer the feel of that totally round ball on the end.) I
even made adapters to fit a Jahn head and tip in the Fujan shaft. I like
the feel of that very well, but the weight is not balanced as well as I'd
like. Fujan did a good job on his head as far as strength and weight go.
I do think I'd like the balance of the new Faulk CF-A lever quite well. I
might handle one of those at the convention to see what it feels like. And
I've even thought of coming up with my own design. But machining costs are
quite high just to chase a "what if." It's cheaper to try various levers to
find the right fit.
--
JF
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