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Saturday 2 February 1907
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BoxLLE
By Rojal Letters Patent
Male m Australia,
With Beale-Vader Patent Iron Wrest-Plank»
DURING THE WHOLE HISTORY OF PI__ÑO__AKING STRENUOUS EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE TOWARDS ATTAINING PERMANENCE IN PITCH AND TUNE. NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO DEVISE AN IRON WRES^-PLANK (OR TUNING-BLOCK) TO FORM PART OF THE USUAL IRON FRAME, AND INTO WHICH THE WREST (OR TUNING) PINS COULD BE SO PLACED THAT THE IRON STRUCTURE WOULD TAKE UP THE WHOLE STRAIN OF THE STRINGS. IN GERMANY. AMERICA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, AUSTRIA-IN EVERY LAND WHERE PIANO ARE MA-TUFAC-TntEE^DEViaES INTENDED TO SUPPLY THIS WANT ARE PATENTED ALMOST EVERY WEEK. BUT NOT ONE OF THESE AT- TEMPTS HAS PROV__)"ENTIRELY SUCCESSFUL, AND THE'FACT REMA INS THAT BY ALL MAKERS, OTHER THAN OURSELVES, THE WREST-PLANK IS MADE OF WOOD.' - - v ' ' ' * " "'-vi
I Here is what Mr. EDGAR BRINS-
MEAD, of Messrs. JOHN BRINS- MEAD & SONS, LONDON, says in his book, "The History of the Piano- forte," about the universal system of stringing to a wooden wrest-plank, and from which the great piano makers have vainly tried, by a thousand de- ja vices, to escape:
"1. The wires (Or strings) are held by metal wrest-pina, around which the j strings are wrapped in two or three fg coils. The pins are then driven f tightly into holes prepared in a
'wrest-plank* made of wood, and the ' tuning is effected by turning the pins, and thus winding the strings around them, BO as to increase the strain and raise the pitch; or, turning the pin backwards, and thus unwinding the pins and lowering the pitch.
' "These pins are held by the friction occasioned by the tightness with which the fibres of the wood press around them, and to turn them GREAT FORCE IS RE- QUIRED. In tuning the move- ment must be very slight, as the dia
Beale-Vader Patent.
THE BEALE-VADER PATENT STEEL
TONING SYSTEM.
Showing SOLID IRON FRAME, with steel screws and tuning' pins. A glance will tell you that this construction will endure for generations. The pins are lubricated, and so can always be turned with delicacy. Patented throughout the world.
THE TUNING SYSTEM OF IMPORTED
PIANOS.
Pins put through holes in the iron frame into a WOODEN PLANK, which sooner or later, must give way. In a. space of li square i feet, 216 pins, each 1. in. by J in., are driven, Timber cannot resist such honeycombing under a strain of 16 tons. The holes become ovaL as «bown above, by the crushing of the wood
fibres.
meter of the pin coOs and strains the 1 strings BO rapidly that a thirtieth part | of a revolution is sufficient to raise p
some notes about half a tone. The U tuner has, therefore, to turn the pin 5 backward and forward until he finds I the required tension, and even then £
THIS PRIMITIVE PLAN NEITHER I SECURES NOR RETAINS ACCÜ- |
RACY, for no material more suitable \ than wood has been used for this pro- P cess, and the wood OCCASION ALL Y I SPLITS, FREQUENTLY LOSES ITS c
HOLDING POWER, is INVARI- | ABLY AFFECTED BY CLIMATIC _ CHANGES, and ESPECIALLY is this I
the case Di HOT CLIMATES; and I when the losa of power is aggravated by 5 the pin being turned forward and back- Ï ward in tuning. PTANOS CANNOT F REMAIN IN TUNE, the tendency of f the strings being to PULL THE PINS g ROUND AND UNCOIL THEM- I SELVES, whilst nothing but great § holding power will prevent them from. I doing so. |
"2. The wooden wrest planks are 1 liable to COME AWAY FROM THEIR. I FIXINGS, the strain on these planks | varying from 16 to 30 tons." |
i This is what HERR JULIUS 1 BLUTHNER, of Lerpsig, producer of
S the very best type of German Pianos, 9 says in the latest edition of his work,
9 "Manual of Pianoforte Construction: m Its History, Theory, and Practice": fi "The wrest-plank ia formed of hard, tough fl wood, usually maple or beech, in at least a three layers, glued together. In- this manner 9 a greater firmness Is attained, and the RISK « OF SPLmTNG AND WARPING REDUCED." ? . Again, cm paire 158, Bluthner writes:-"In Bj general the Tem-rk must be emphasised th-: S the timber used for this purpose must be 9 carefully treated, and that in upright Pianos, m almost more than in horizontal, THE MOST 2 PAINFUL CABE must be devoted to the fl good jointing up of the timber, LEST THE fl PARTS SHOULD LATER COME ASUNDER,"
Sj But the pincb*of the timber upon the wrest S or tuning pin is not sufficient to resist the 9 strain of the string when vibrated Conse ? miently, Pianos with wooden wrest-plan-i will ? not remain for any length of time at what is S known as Philharmonic or Concert pitch, 9 munelv, 540 vibrations per second of the note 8 C. Now wind instruments are at that pitch, H and the Piano, to be in unison with them. Bj must be errained above, its normal power of H resistance. The frequent pulling up of the ja strings to uitch will not by any means tend fl to tighten the pins, "but rather to loosen them. ft In cours« of tune-and no long time either B the instrument must be left a good deal under S full pitch, if it ia to be in tune at all. H There is no effective means for restoring the H Piano, because plugging the holes or stuffing I the pins with any substance whatever will 9 only aggravate the misfortune. As aforesaid, H a narrow be^ch plank, honeycombed with 216 fl quarter-inch holes, each one and a half inches ? deep and close together, cannot, and wûl H not, penoinently withstand the full etrain,
I OUR INVENTION, BEALE-VADER 1 PATENT
fl is simplicity itself. Instead of following the fl universal practice of introducing a wrest-pin fl from the front, driven into wood like a nail, fl as described above, we introduce a steel pin fl from the back, fitted nicely tato a hole drilled | ina solid metal plate. The plate is a part
H of the usual iron frame. The phi bas a co-i H cal butt fitting a conical shoulder in the drilled fl hole. A tension screw (or stud) presses the 9 pin against the shoulder, thus controlling the 0 pin and imparting any desired tension. The fl strain of the strm? is taken up eecurely by IS the iron frame. That is all.
fl With the wooden wrest-plank the pin fl crushes some of the fibres in front, thereby H causing a certain looseness or space where the H pin should fit tightest. It follows that a part fl of the vibration of the string is lost, because H the pin itself, being insufficiently supported, H vibrates. But all the vibration from the M stroke of the hammer should go to the sound ? ing-board, which alone develops the musical
? sounds. With our
IRON WREST-PLANK
the pin is quite motionless, and thus all the musical vibration is transferred to the sound- ing-board, and conveyed in fall volume and purity to the ear.
Another great advantage is that our new
STEEL WREST-PIN.
turns with perfect smoothness during the oper - ation of tuning, eo that the tuner can
arrive with ease and accuracy at the pitch de- sired. "With the wooden .wrest-plank he finds always more or lesa jerkiness, because of the indispensable pinch of the wood, aided by the resin usually introduced. With our patent he lg provided with smooth metal surfaces, which are lubricated so as to assure ease of operation.
A still greater advantage is that as the tenskn-fcrew perfectly controls the pin. which
it touches only at a point, the . latter will remain absolutely and permanently at any desired strain, thus con- ferring the bcon of full , and correct j'iteh. An mhanced quality of tone is ob- tained, inasmuch as the ear receives the cor- rect smind, and is thereby pleased (though per- haps the hearer knows not why).
But, above all, .the advantage ol,permanence in tone is attained by the j
BEALE VADER PATENT
in so far as that can be possible. Piano strings are made by drawing wire from cast-steel in- gots. It is true that these strings may be said to stretch at first, because they are really straightening. For that reason all our in- struments are months at full strain before issue. Under the _
. BEALE-VADER PATENTS
the F*mo receives for the first time a com- plete internal iron frame above and below. The instrument is, therefore, rendered durable be- yond all others in respect of tune, quality of tone, and generally.
The accompanying sectional illustration . . shows clearly the construction of the Beale Pianos in respect of the tuning system. Any construction of wood, being an organic ma- terial, requires some length of test in order to ascertain its merits or defects. But when steel and iron are dealt with, the result can
be known at once, whether it suffices its in- ' tention or not. Having fitted one steel pin into a cast iron plate, its strain-bearing quality can be tested forthwith. We prepared wrest-pins by the thousand gross, and '.fa no single instance-as a matter ot course-have they failed to hold as expected. The pin will hold any pitch up to the breaking point of the string. . '
English, concert pitch is 540 vibrations per second of the note O. Continental pitch is O -517. «nd at the latter German Pianos are usually tuned, for the wooden wrest-plank will hold it for eorae time at least. But that pitch does not satisfy British cars. It is a semi-tone flat, O being actually the note.B natural. Hence it forms an intolerable dis- cord with either British or French wind in- struments. Again, a singer accustomed to
concert (or philharmonic) pitch must either j transpose his or her song, or accept an accom- paniment half a tone flat. Excepting at pub- lic concerts, where the Piano is expressly pulled up to concert pitch, he cannot expect to have the piano other than flat.
By referring to the engraving1 it will be seen that the tuning-pin sits firmly in the cylin-
drical barrel drilled to receive it. The screw is not affected by the pin, because the latter touches ft only at one spot, and, being firmly in position controlled by the screw, the pia cannot vibrate. .
COMPLETE PIANOS may be seen at any of OUR SHOWROOMS
constructed upon the above system, or small specimen sections will be sent by post to any intending purchaser. There are sow thousands of Pianos with these patent wrest-p--ks ta use with families, in stock, and in course of _-a_ufacture. Daring months there is no charge in them whatever. All the expected adiantages have been attained, and some which were not anticipated.
If you want a. Piano which will last a life- time, and can always be kept at proper pitch, ,as a true musical instrument should be,.the» we cordially invite you to inspect and test the
BEALE PIANOS
beforc buying elsewhere. Tbey are made in your own climate to withstand the climate, of the best materials, by thoroughly competent workmen. We give guarantees and submit proofs whidi you cannot obtain elsewhere. Why not give Britons a. -tance, instead of de- manding the Libel "Madf in Germany?** There would be no sei_e in malang Pianos here at all unless we made them better, because we can get all the labor and skill at nun- lower wages in Germany.
SconoM or uppcf» »ART em PIANO.
TENSION .WREST PIM SCREW. ^ -.->
^ FUU.SIZE
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS' GUARANTEE.
Cash OP Easy Ttrms Anywhere.
Catalogue and Circulars Free.
BEALE & CO., LTD.,
I 127, BUNDLE-STREET, ADELAIDE. |