A couple of things:

I just spent a half hour skimming through two books that I bought almost
five years ago, "The Modern Harpsichord" written by Wolfgang Zuckermann in
1969, and "Harpsichord Design and Construction" written by Evan Kern in
1980.  Both books provide a basic summary of how harpsichords work, in
terms both of fundamental acoustics and practical mechanical design.  As
far as I can tell, what they have to say is mostly consistent with the
broad picture that I have managed to distill from five years worth of
discussions on this list.  And even more interesting, Zuckermann discusses
in detail the very same marketing issues that have been discussed on the
list over the past few days, and comes to the same conclusions.  These
books seem to still be good introductions to the subject for somebody
potentially in the market for an instrument.  But they are now a little out
of date.  If a similar book were to be written now, enough has been learned
in the intervening twenty or thirty years that the broad picture could be
fleshed out a bit, and maybe altered in some relatively minor ways.

In particular, the specifications for a good basic "instrument for the
masses" would have changed to something less like the Z-box and more like
the instrument described by Den Ciul in a recent posting.  Both would seem
to be aimed at the same market niche.  I would suggest an automotive
analogy of something like the Toyota Corolla, or if that is not exciting
enough, a Miata.

When I started out trying to understand harpsichords five years ago, one of
the first things that was recommended to me was that I should attend one of
the "shows."  So I went to Berkeley in '98, and enjoyed it immensely.  Two
things stick in my mind from that experience:  Being overwhelmed by the big
elaborately decorated French doubles, and seeing in the midst of the hubbub
David Calhoun quietly and diligently voicing a ZHI Flemish single.  It was
obvious that I couldn't afford the former, and I liked the impression
created by the latter.  I ordered a ZHI Flemish kit within a few months,
and after a few delays and sidetrips, finally have it playing to my
satisfaction, although it still needs to be painted.  I suspect that if I
had seen a basic instrument like the one described by Den, I might have
bought it on the spot.  If I had done so, I would have had the pleasure of
playing music over the past four years instead of fussing with the
kit.  (Not that I haven't enjoyed building the kit, but that's a different
gig.....)

My rants about exploitation of cheap foreign labor aside, Robertson and
sons provided a comfortable and private environment that made it easy for
me to try out several fiddles in the price range of interest, as described
in a posting several days ago. Extrapolating from that experience,  I can
think of several things that might have happened differently in
Berkeley.  I might have found some instruments in rooms with doors that
could be closed, which would have provided an opportunity for me to have a
somewhat extended encounter with the instrument without rush or
distraction.  One way that this might work would be via a sign-up sheet for
a specific time slot - maybe it gets done that way in other venues.  And I
think it would have been beneficial if the instruments in those rooms had
been something simple and basic, like the one described by Den, just to
provide a reference point for what a decent instrument feels like and what
is available at reasonable cost.  The idea is to get me into the game, not
to sell me a $30,000 showpiece right off the bat.

These are marketing issues, and maybe not very interesting to the
builders.  As Zuckermann says, most builders aren't very business
oriented.  It may well be that the market will always be small, but within
that small market there is room for maneuver.

And yes, talk is cheap.

JB