Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
FEBRUARY 10,
1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
Germany Shows American Actions
National Museum of Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Piano Exhibit Covers History of Instrument from Primitive
Beginnings Down to Present Day—American Inventions by Chickering, Mason & Hamlin, Conover,
Wessell, Nickel & Gross, and Staib-Abendschein Shown—Wurtemberg Piano Industry Today
(The following is the first of a series of articles dealing
with the European piano industry under present-day con-
ditions. They are by H. T. Scott-Huntington, a well-
known piano technician, who has been abroad a number of
months. They will take up conditions in Germany, France
and Belgium and are the first published in the American
trade press giving a direct view of present-day conditions
in the piano industry in those countries.—Editor.)
STUTTGART, GERMANY, January 6.—Here I am in
Stuttgart, noted for its varied industrial activi-
ties. The principal of these are optical goods
and pianos. The war, of course, has left its
imprint upon them, like all other similar indus-
tries, and personnel was heavily drawn upon
with the usual consequence—a poor product.
My first visit was to the famous Shiedmeyer
& Sohne piano factory. This is an old institu-
tion in which very high standards are main-
tained. The present owners, though a stock
company, have still retained some of the old
personnel which enables them to turn out a
good product. The other firm of a similar
name is Shiedmeyer Pianoforte Fabrik. Orig-
inally these two were controlled by brothers,
but subsequent differences as to procedure and
policy caused a severance of interests which
soon became acute rivalry. This was assuaged
by the fact that the former began leaning more
toward making organs, in which it soon ac-
quired an enviable position among the German
organ manufacturers. Both branches of the in-
dustry, however, developed such an output that
it gave rise to the question whether making
piano actions in the same city would prove of
benefit. That started the Keller & Co. action
factory, an institution which for over thirty
years has been making actions for a large num-
ber of pianoforte makers, not only in Germany,
but also abroad.
"Bayonet" Action in Favor
Our system of the open action in place of
the old "bayonet" style action has been widely
copied and adopted. But German manufac-
turers seem to cling to the latter, for they
claim it is more suitable to smaller-sized pianos,
and that their size permits the omission of the
abstract, having the capstan screw in direct
contact with the wippen, by making it with the
"bayonet" damper. They state that the key's
touch is more uniform by having this damper's
weight sort of "neutralizing" or "balancing"
the action's height in general operation. Hav-
ing examined several of their pianos containing
these actions, I could not but notice that there
was some truth in the statement. Frankly, the
new and improved "bayonet" action when prop-
erly made, mounted and regulated gives some
very satisfactory results, and the touch is good,
although in the treble register beginning where
the dampers cease the touch weight must be
attended to by leads or similar devices. •
The Louis Renner Co. is another action-
maker, which is the largest and best in the
city, and probably in Germany. Its heads are
progressive in adopting new methods, ideas and
inventions. The Fritz Meyer Action Co. is
the smallest though not least important of this
group. Its product also is good, but is sold
principally to the mediocre makers or those
with which price is vital. Its product is sent
to Italy, Spain, the Balkan countries and Swiss
makers principally.
Old Steinway Man in Stuttgart
Among the piano manufacturers here is Carl
A. Pfeiffer. Mr. Pfeiffer was with Steinway &
Sons in New York some forty years ago. His
knowledge of English is somewhat rusty after
such a long absence, though he can still vividly
recrJl the old piano days and some of the best-
known piano men of that city. He is quite an
inventor, and especially does he make very fine
models.
I had the pleasure of having him accompany
me to the National Museum where, among inter-
esting collections, he showed me what is perhaps
one of the best, if not the best, collection of
models illustrating the principles of the piano
as first evolved by the Italian inventor, Cristo-
fori, in 1709 to the present day. It contains at
least four models of the first Cristofori actions.
The third, placed on the market in 1726, shows
the most radical departure and improvement.
This really laid the foundation for the French-
man Erard, who, although he began in 1721 with
a fairly good action, did not succeed in having
a really practical one until 1732 with the basis
of the subsequently famous "Erard Repetition
Lever." The conception, is plainly due to the
third Cristofori improvement. But as the in-
dustry then was in its infancy and our very
protective (?) patent laws were non-existent,
the superior financial position of Erard gave
him the lead over all other makers.
American Improvements in Museum
This museum also contains models of every
kind of tuning pin, pin block, pin block bridge
and devices for the maintenance of the tuning,
including the famous application of the physical
principle enunciated by Pascal and our own
meritorious Mason & Hamlin device which,
after its introduction in 1882, met with so much
unmerited criticism at the hands of the profes-
sional tuners, who saw in it a pecuniary loss
more than any technical or mechanical fault,
that after a few years it had to be withdrawn.
Near it are models of the Conover action, in-
cluding the Battaglia hook, intended to replace
the usual bridle strap; then the Staib-Abend-
schein "Mastertouch" action as well. Various
models of the Wessell, Nickel & Gross action
are shown, together with the English Brins-
mead actions as developed by that fertile brain
from 1856 to the present. The old Chickering
action, which caused such a controversy between
the Yankee and the English manufacturer,
Broadwood, is also displayed. His upright ac-
tion was the standard followed by all others
and not materially improved upon.
Mr. Pfeiffer informed me that he had spent
twenty-five years of his life making all these
models. One of the most interesting is an
action having its hammers above the strings
and beating downward upon them, the inven-
tion of a Frenchman who, though rich and
profiting much from the product of his piano
factory, spent all his earnings in making and
patenting new actions until he died a poor man.
Though all his action improvements were very
ingenious, none was of commercial value nor
even technically acceptable.
Mr. Pfeiffer is the inventor and patentee of
a, transposing action for the upright piano
which is very practical. Its basic advantage is
that the keybed is made to move simultaneously
with the action, as occurs in the grand action,
thereby preserving uniformity of contact with
all its parts during the shifting movement.
The manufacture of the pneumatic player or
the reproducer is still far from what it is with
us. Though not exactly in its infancy, still the
diversity of styles, the variety in which well-
known principles are applied and the general
mechanical condition are not up to our stand-
ards, though it must be admitted that in several
parts of Germany there are very good pneu-
matics made. The instrument has not taken a
firm hold here any more than it has in either
Italy or Switzerland, the conception in the lay-
man's mind still being that it is either a toy, a
freak application or not responsive enough for
the generally trained musical ear.
The working day in the factories is eight
hours. The cost of living (though plenty
to eat of everything if you have the price) is
high. The attitude of the piano workers'
syndicates or unions is such as to impose their
Socialistic doctrines in no mean manner. The
devaluation of the mark occurs so frequently
and sporadically—some days there is a difference
of several hundred marks in favor of our dol-
lar—that wages are arbitrarily fixed by them
and imposed upon the factory owners. In early
September the average wage was forty marks
per hour, on September 15 it rose to fifty, at
the end of September to fifty-five, in the first
week of October to fifty, at the end of October
to sixty, the first of November to seventy-five
and the middle saw it at one hundred. My
latest information was that it was hovering
around two hundred with the prospect that it
would still ascend.
German Factories' Delivery Terms
Upon asking several of the owners whether
they were always busy I was informed that
they were busier now than at any other time
of their history.
"How does it happen that you are selling so
many pianos when nearly every German I
speak to states that his condition is the worst
in memory and that he can hardly afford the
necessities of life?" I asked.
"Oh, but our product is not sold in Germany,"
was the reply. "We export practically 95 per
cent of our output to countries the currency
standard of which is higher than our own."
"And are you taking on more orders?"
"Oh, no; at least only conditionally."
"And those conditions are?"
"Well, that half the import price is paid in
advance and that we take at least six months
for delivery, but are not liable even up to one
year after receipt of order."
PIANO CLUB'S J ANNUAL MEETING
Members Will Meet on February 13 to Hold
Annual Election and Hear Reports of Officers
and the Standing Committees
The annual meeting of the Piano Club of
New York will be held at the club rooms,
Twenty-third Ward Bank Building, 137th street
and Third avenue, New York, on Tuesday, Feb-
Vuary 13, 1923, at 1:30 p. m. The officers of
the Club hope that there will be a large attend-
ance of the membership.
The annual election of officers and governors
will take place at this meeting. The regular
ticket consists of the following for the year
1923: President, Max J. DeRochemont; vice-
president, Albert Behning; treasurer, A. V. W.
Setley, and secretary, Charles E. Reid. The
regular ticket for members of the Board of
Governors, whose terms will expire in 1925,
follows: Charles P. Bogart, William G. Heller,
Fred H. Abendschein, Stuart D. Warner and
H. C. Frederici. Annual reports of the officers
of the club and chairmen of standing committees
will also be read.
Officers request that members who are in
arrears for dues or charges send in their checks
to the secretary in order that accounts may be
closed for the past year.
WOOD BROS.JRECT BUILDING
PITTSKIELD, MASS., February 6.—Wood Bros.,
music and piano dealers in this city, have just
completed plans for a new building. The struc-
ture will be in two parts, connecting.