- Henry Steinway, Jr. writes in his letter to Germany to his brother C.F. Theodor: “We’re keen on having our name well-known in Europe, too. This is absolutely necessary so we can attract the attention of visiting piano virtuosos and get our hands on them. Just as it is in Paris with Erard and Pleyel, so it is in New York with Steinway & Sons and Chickering & Sons. Lately, since we have been making the overstrung grands we have overtaken them rather clearly. Our overstrung pianos are quite fabulous. They have a fuller and stronger sound than the ordinary ones. We are no longer making any others. Other piano makers are already imitating us. Our square pianos have been copied by five or six manufacturers. The Patent Office in Washington has not decided yet, but I’m very hopeful that I can get a patent for the grands, since none have ever been issued before. […] I have had a machine custom-made in order to drill the agraffes diagonally. This results in a magnificently firm treble… it does have to be a rather good grand to rival such an instrument”.
- Even though agraffes were used in pianomaking before, they were never used for treble, because of the complex reasons related to geometry of the string and the hammer. Henry Steinway, Jr. has proposed a simple and elegant solution: to tilt the agraffes. This allows to use them for treble, which radically improves the treble sound of Steinway & Sons pianos, making it characteristically “sparkling”.