<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Was 'Short Treble' - trial by Calin T.</title></head><body> <blockquote type="cite" cite>Ron Overs wrote:</blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite>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?<br> --------<br> </blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#007700">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.</font><br> </blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#007700">Calin Thomason.</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>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;</div> <div><br></div> <div><font color="#007700">At 8:17 AM +0100 24/9/03, Calin Thomason wrote:</font></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#007700"> . . . the other Aussie designer. His action is</font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#007700">not much more then a modifed Langer from 1905 or so.</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>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<i> Pianos and their Makers</i><font color="#0000FF"> (a must-have for every technician's library)</font>. 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.</div> <div><br></div> <div align="center"><img src="cid:a06002003bbcfd24a9a7d@[61.8.27.4].1.0"></div> <div><i>If your email programme can't view the image, you can find it at;</i></div> <div>http://overspianos.com.au/lngr1909.jpg</div> <div><br></div> <div>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.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Two images of the Overs action can be found at;</div> <div><br></div> <div>http://overspianos.com.au/actn.html</div> <div><br></div> <div>In particular, with the Overs action;</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote>1) the jack tender (tail) is a completely new design.</blockquote> <blockquote><br></blockquote> <blockquote>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<font color="#0000FF"> (while the spring-with-loop type is capable of similarly low friction, it is slightly more expensive to manufacture)</font>. Furthermore, the Langer has a separate spring for the jack and repetition lever.</blockquote> <blockquote><br></blockquote> <blockquote>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.</blockquote> <blockquote><br></blockquote> <blockquote>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.<font color="#0000FF"> (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)</font>.</blockquote> <blockquote><br></blockquote> <blockquote>5) The capstan/heel design is to my knowledge unique to our piano action.</blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>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.</div> <div><br></div> <div><font color="#007700">At 4:14 PM +0100 8/9/03, Calin Thomason wrote:</font></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#007700">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.</font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#007700"><br> 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 !</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>Don't worry Calin, I wouldn't read those nasty claims any more if I were you, and I apologise for encouraging<b> you</b> 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.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Ron O.</div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#0000FF"><b>OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY</b></font></div> <div><font color="#000000"><i>   </i></font><font color="#0000FF"><i>Grand Piano Manufacturers</i></font><font color="#000000"><br> _______________________</font></div> <div><font size="-2" color="#000000"><br> </font><font color="#000000">Web http://overspianos.com.au</font></div> <div><font color="#000000">mailto:info@overspianos.com.au<br> _______________________</font></div> </body> </html>