By Evan Mistilis

A piano maker based in a tiny workshop in Concord has developed a concert piano that took the global community of piano technicians by storm at a conference in the United States. Ron Overs, who is only one of two piano makers in Australia, was thrilled when his invention received rave reviews from delegates to a meeting in Reno, Nevada last month. A number of US piano technicians, concert pianists and music critics have written testimonials about the noticeable difference in the sound and the "playability" of the Overs Piano.

Mr Overs redesigned the mechanism that connects the piano keys to the hammer that hits the piano string. Thanks to a reduction of friction in the mechanism, the Overs Piano is faster and easier to play for expert pianists. "We halved the amount of friction on the piano keys from 20 percent to 10 percent, which makes the piano easier and faster to play, and longer lasting," Mr Overs said.

The piano has a richer, stronger sound, thanks to a number of design improvements . . . inside the piano. After spending eighteen months developing three prototypes of his piano, Mr Overs is ready to manufacture his new piano for the world market, starting with a production run of six next year. There is a limited market in Australian for the high-quality Overs Piano, which is priced at US$49,000 [at present]. The piano has a comparable quality to the Fazioli and Steinway pianos, believed to be the best in the world, but for lower cover price. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is taking the Overs Piano for an appraisal.

Published in the Inner Western Suburbs Courier, August 20, 2001
First published on Overs Pianos website, 1 December 2001