At 01:24 AM 3/22/2002 +0100, you wrote: >I 've read somewhere that this phenomen of increasing sustain is often found >in older pianos with only a little or >even no crown or downbearing. I've heard this effect on different older >pianos, even with used hammers and not perfectly being tuned. Any way, this >is for me one of the nicest things in piano sound. >Pierre Gevaert Chances are that the hammers were soft to begin with, or voiced properly and always produced this sound. The strident, brilliant, glass-breaking tonal qualities of modern hammers do not produce this sound. Modern taste has developed a linear tonal preference, maybe due to the increasing digital/electronic presence. Thirty years ago, a piano teacher stated it best, "Those Asian pianos sound like their language." Take that for what it's worth but that is what I think is what we're contending with, high piercing sound. The last S&S sold from my shop was due to the fact that it was warm and melodic/romantic; not the piercing, ear-shattering tones which everyone has become accustomed to while competing with Asian pianos. After trying different ones in the 'Big City', this piano was a welcome oasis to the players. Brighter is not better. Regards, Jon Page, piano technician Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. mailto:jonpage@attbi.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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