Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Choosing a vintage metronome

Get what you like for looks, and then get an electronic one to use.

I had a couple of black plastic Chinese ones that worked well until I flattened them both with a hammer.

I have the penguin one.

Oh, another thought . . .

Over winding can break the spring in a mechanical metronome, but the old Seth Thomas ones have a clutch mechanism that will prevent this, if I recall correctly.

Penguins??

The owl is awesome! :o)

I've had a few metronomes, especially electronic, over the years, but the one that has lasted the longest and still works very well is the Wittner Mini-Taktell. It's not a fancy wooden one, but it works (and I'm a big proponent of using a metronome to practice). It's not quite vintage, but it is labeled "W. Germany," so it's been around a while. Anyway, I took a photo to test out a camera a while back.

TimPoe, if it's older than 20 years, it's considered vintage.

I actually really love this one. I hope this doesn't offend your design sense or anything, but your metronome is quite adorable. It's like a cute, happy little cartoon character.

And I like the minimal use of plastic. I'm not a fan of plastics of any kind in my home.

Thanks for sharing!

MooseNotes - Thanks and welcome. I bought it around 1986, so I guess it qualifies as vintage, then. I hope this doesn't ruin it for you, but the casing back/sides are black plastic. I have to admit I've never thought of it as a cartoon character; I think of it more like a "lie detector" because it makes any slight rhythmic stumble while practicing painfully obvious. Back in my music school days I knew a few people who threw theirs across the room at some point. I'm proud to say that one's never taken flight.

I'm ruined.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFj3wCRYsOo

I knew the sides and back were plastic. I even found this same model on eBay and was able to see even more photos all the around.

MooseNotes - I'm glad that didn't ruin it. I believe they're still made, as are many other Wittner metronomes.

I've got one of these too, almost 30 years old. It fell off the piano once and I had to repair it by putting a new needle bearing in the front where the horizontal plastic piece is. But it's still going strong. It has the "endless spring" which means you can't overwind it.

ando - Quite cool. I'm trying to think of other devices I've regularly used for 30 years, but nothing's coming to mind.

Speaking of Vintage: Here's my Maelzel metronome:



Regards

Plus when you read the tempo on the music, MM=90 etc, you can say you are actually reading the score accurately!

So beautiful, Bruce.

Do you have to pull the window washer thing out of the compartment for it to work? I think I need to watch some videos and study metronomes more. I honestly don't know how they work.

When not in operation, the pendulum ("window washer thing") is hooked in place at the top of the instrument behind a small metal strip. When it is released, it moves forward enough that it is away from the frame of the metronome so that it can swing back and forth freely.

If you want a detailed close-up of how that works, I can gladly provide photographs.

Regards,

Oh, photos, please. That would be so nice, thank you!