Another interesting post. Thanks.

It's true that these old Blüthners are incredibly stable, the tuning is very stable on them and once they've settled they hardly ever go out of tune.

The patent action repeats very well, even when compared to a normal action, but the repetition happens higher up the key dip than in the roller action, so you have to play more outside the keyboard (if that makes sense). Schnabel used to call it playing "off the keyboard", although as far as I know he didn't own a Blüthner.

I played that very piano a few weeks back in the Roberts Piano workshop. Someone will get a real beauty in the near future.

At that point I had already decided on my future Bechstein Model V which was a few metres away.

In fact, I should stop looking at their website in general, or I’ll end up buying another one... or indeed their whole shop! :-)

It doesn't quite make sense! Could you explain in more detail?

(And that seems to be my 2000th post!)

To put it in very crude terms, when playing on a Steinway, and in particular the American Steinways - and for that matter the Hamburg Steinways of about 20 to 30 years ago - the point of repetition is quite far down the key, so it helps to keep the wrist a little bit lower, and play kind of in to the keyboard, with more of a kind of kneading motion. It's not actually a kneading motion but that's almost what it looks like.

With the Blüthner patent action it kind of helps to keep the wrist a bit higher and the hand almost a bit more loose, with the arms more ready to take flight.

There's a lot more to it than that, and my description is almost as crude as to be useless, but I know what I mean.

And I have an idea what you mean. Thanks.

Well here's another fantastic claim by a salesman to add to the ever growing list. "With the screws in the pin block and sound board this piano will hardly ever need tuning!" Why didn't I think of that, I'll just get my screw driver and.......
Interesting action though.

Yeah he's talking crap about that. Blüthner never claimed it helped with the tuning. I don't know what the screws were for, perhaps at the time they thought it was to help the piano in tropical climates? The screws in the soundboard are because the ribs were screwed as well as glued to the soundboard at that time, again probably some kind of tropical treatment. The new and rebuilt Blüthners from Blüthner don't have the ribs screwed on anymore.