Lindner Piano ??? -Reply Two -Reply

[Steve Pearson]

Del.  Yeah, I saw a Rippen grand at NAMM the day we bombed Iraq.  No
kidding.  One of the Rippen family was there and hyping it pretty good. 
NAMM isn't a good place to evaluate a piano, but it seemed pretty nice,
but I don't know any details about the action, but Herr Rippen said it had
the reverse crown board.  I think Lyon and Healy was  selling it as a
stencil.   Back to my old Rippen studio.  It was built like a tank, and
nothing folded down.  It seemed like it weighed about 5,000 lbs (actually
it was 45" tall and weighed right at 500 lbs., and had no casters. 
Perhaps the fact that it stayed put contributed to the solid tuning. With
the exception of a Yamaha U7 I used to take care of, the Rippen  was
my candidate for the best upright I had yet seen, (the Fandrich
notwithstanding) and remained in tune despite the fact that for years the
owner kept it in a west facing bay window (against my conststant
objections).  They gave it to me to babysit for the last 4 years, and
putting it on an inside wall kept the finish from further fading, but had
little effect on the already remarkable stability. I wonder if the concave
soundboard was less prone to swelling and shrinking that the usual
crowned board?  I tuned this guy every 6 months almost from day one
back in '81 or '82, and it was ALWAYS right up to pitch. It  boasted a
very long, even  sustain.  Everyone that played it was blown away by
the sound and action.  I sent it back to the owners a few months ago,
and I have missed it ever since.  A lot of really good design and
workmanship went into that piano...
Steve