"It's more lightweight than I expected a steel hammer to be. I can move it from one tuning pin to the next without having to change my hand position on the hammer."
"As I understand, it is made of fairly ordinary materials, like steel pipe, etc, but it was designed with an extraordinary amount of thought and trial-and error. The pipe that is used for the shaft has a great compromise between stiffness and weight, making it a relatively light lever that really lets me feel the pin. I was willing to buy a more expensive one, but I took a chance and now I think I've found a life-long friend. It's just impressive what he was able to do with simple materials and a lot smart engineering."
"The Levitan tuning lever has become my only tuning lever. I used to use the adjustable hex lever from schaff exclusively and was amazed at how light and rigid this inexpensive lever is! There is no need to spend more."
"The Levitan Classic from Pianotek is the most bang for your buck as far as stiffness, weight, and price."
"I love my Levitan hammer. It's lightweight, works well, stylish and the price was right."
"Finally it's not just another light weight hammer, which in itself is very important for controlling tuning pins, but it's also perfectly engineered for maximum tuning stability. I wish you would have come up with this years ago!!!"
WELDED STEEL TUBES
Intimate feel at a reasonable price
To tune well, a tuner needs to be able to feel what's going on in a tuning pin and the string attached to it. That's why a tuning lever needs to work well, not only as a tool, for turning tuning pins; but also as a sensor, for transmitting information about conditions in the tuning pin and string to the hand.
The lighter and stiffer a lever, the more clearly it transmits information: The low inertia of a lightweight lever allows information to pass rapidly though it, and the lack of flex of a stiff lever allows information to pass intact through it from the pin to the hand.
The shanks of Levitan Tuning Levers are made of tubular steel, which is not only light and stiff, but is also relatively inexpensive and easy to machine.
For maximum stiffness, the point of maximum stress--the joint between the shank and the head--is made of solid steel on all Levitan levers, with the exception of the Utility.
For the same reason, the joint is welded, not threaded. Only a few of the threads carry most of the stress in even the most carefully machined threaded joint, so a threaded joint significantly reduces the stiffness of a tuning lever.
Since their joints are welded rather than threaded, Levitan Tuning Levers aren't adjustable. However, they have been carefully designed and extensively field-tested for a universal fit.