Hi, all,
The Jansen version of these pneumatic benches was made for Kawai exclusively at first, and a year or two ago they became available to us all. My David (Vanderlip) got one for Pomona College a year ago, and two of my concert halls have gotten them now. Don Mannino, a year ago, said they've been in use with Kawai grands for about 5 years with no failures.
Our concert halls appreciate the fact that they look like the familiar Jansen benches, even down to the round adjustment "knobs", which in the case of the pneumatic, is just an "on-off" switch, spring-loaded to return when released. David found advantage in putting a noticeable dot on the active knob with a silver Sharpie, so you can tell which end is which. We also appreciate the fact that the legs are interchangeable. We keep Jansen J3 style legs handy in 12" and 16" lengths (14" legs are standard for US, 15" for benches coming with Hamburg Steinways). If an artist wants the bench to go higher or lower than standard, we can switch out legs very quickly.
The Jansen benches go down somewhat easily when the knob is activated, This means that a lightweight pianist should have no problem going down. It also means, however, that a heavier person has to keep some control when the knob is released, or they can hit bottom with a slight thump.
We are enjoying these benches very much. I'll bet you can sit on one in person in Norfolk; Kawai had one with their piano last year. And Don can answer questions about their experience with reliability. I don't know if Jansen will be there or not, but they are so easily available by phone if you need info.
Kathy
Original Message------
This is great to know. We have had 2 of these type of benches (another brand but I have found zero differences as Fred and others have described the Hidrau -sp-??) in our recital halls at Texas Tech (and another at a professor's home) for about 3 years now. In our extremely high usage situstion there have been zero issues with the gas-filled "shocks",etc. I did have to tighten the leg screws at the bottom of one of them once--super easy and I do not consider this an issue at all.
The only negative feedback we have received is 1- one of our piano professors is too LIGHT to make these benches go down.
2- some artists tend to prefer the size/weight of the Jansens.
So...both of these issues would be corrected with these new style. Cost is a factor, but for high use recital halls--sounds like a Great option! So, thanks much Fred. Keep us posted on this!
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Kevin Fortenberry
Registered Piano Technician
Lubbock TX
806-778-3962
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