<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: Capo Hardening, was: Tuning problems under capo ba</title></head><body> <div>At 9:48 AM -0800 25/1/03, gordon stelter wrote:</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite>I have even seen 1920's KIMBALLS(!!!) with the<br> groove-and-steel-rod solution to the soft capo<br> problem. What other pinaos have you folks seen this<br> on, and why didn't Steinway and some other costly<br> makes use it?</blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite>     Thump<br> </blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>Yamaha used the idea in the late 70's, but it failed because their string approach angle to the capo was too high and wire breakage became all too common with the very hard capo wire. They reverted back to the old system but they now harden the capo bar properly<font color="#0000FF"> (I know this because we reshape them with a tungsten carbide burr before restringing - the duplexs on the other hand, do require hardening after reshaping)</font>. Yet another example of poor execution killing the idea off before it flew.</div> <div><br></div> <div>With Steinway the answer is very simple. They've been preaching to world about their 'perfect product' for so long that it would be nearly impossible for them to change anything. Furthermore, why should they? The greater percentage of the music world are convinced that S&S is no. 1, so while ever the perception perpetuates they don't need to change anything.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Isn't it just about time that the world stopped 'goo-garring' over a design which was conceived around 1900 or before? Let us for our future's sake consider the possibility of applying new knowledge in a new century. The dominance of one brand name over the past century has resulted in a sort of 'design holocaust'. Lets move forward and create something new and exciting. When folks come at me with blind acceptance of the design dogma which has plagued pianos over the past century, I recall the words of Oliver Cromwell which Jacob Bronowksi quoted in 'The Ascent of Man' as he knelt at the Auschwitz crematorium pond, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken".</div> <div><br></div> <div>I must mention though that I tuned and voiced a newish two year old New York M yesterday<font color="#0000FF"> (on the new cruise ship Europa - what a vessel! - check it out at; http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/europa/)</font>.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Same old-world ordinary design so the piano sounds just like it always has, but I was very surprised at the dramatic improvement in workmanship over some of the trash S&S New York have built over the past twenty years. The action would now appear to have been made by Renner and the quality workmanship in the bent rim and sound board was a great surprise. The old packing crate look has completely disappeared.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Ron O.</div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div>_______________________<br> <br> OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY<br> Grand Piano Manufacturers</div> <div><br></div> <div>Web: http://overspianos.com.au</div> <div>mailto:info@overspianos.com.au</div> <div>_______________________</div> </body> </html>