Levitan Tuning Hammer Vs. Rosewood Tuning Hammer Review
The Levitan Tuning Hammer was once the most significant upgrade to my tuning kit.
Beforehand, the Rosewood tuning lever was briefly my primary tuning lever. However, my previous performance with this lever prompted me to switch it up because my unisons weren't holding well at that time.
Levitan and Rosewood tuning hammer similarites
Grain Finish
Rosewood Handle
Less Environmental Impact
Grain Finish
Instead of a high gloss finish, both of these tuning hammers have a simple grain finish. The wooden handles feel like wood to the touch, instead of a solid glass-like feel of high gloss tuning levers.
Rosewood Handle
Though the color shading of both tuning hammers have a different appearance, the handle is made up of the same wood.
Rosewood is a classic material used in many tuning levers.
Less Environmental Impact
Both tuning hammers are made up of common steel tubing and have less of an environmental impact than premium levers.
Premium levers are made with materials such as carbon fiber and titanium, which have a greater environmental impact.
Levitan and Rosewood tuning hammer differences
Length
Price
Flexibility/Rigidity
Tuning Tip Type
Length
The Rosewood lever is about 19" long. It's noticeably longer than the Levitan lever.
The Levitan lever is about 12" long, which is notably shorter.
Price
The Rosewood tuning hammer is not worth the similar investment as the Levitan tuning hammer.
The Levitan has a far better value than the Rosewood tuning hammer, even though the prices are the same.
On balance, the Levitan is worth the money.
Levitan - $245
Rosewood - $239
Flexibility/Rigidity
The Levitan tuning hammer is rigid, which is what most technicians prefer. This helps to get the tuning done quicker and gives more control to the piano tuner.
The Rosewood lever is very flexible and may cause tuners to spend extra time on their tunings because they have less control over the tool. When I first owned the Rosewood lever I realized that my tunings weren't very stable; since I changed levers my tunings dramatically improved.
Tuning Tip Type
The Levitan tips and the Rosewood heads are to be ordered from a piano supply company which have a different name/specification for each hammer.
More specifically...
The Rosewood lever has a tuning lever "head" instead of a "tip," which means that the tuning lever "head" has a different design, which screws on in a different fashion than a tuning lever "tip".
