new pianos

[Kenneth P. Eschete]

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Dave, 
As the Director of Keyboard Maintenance at Northwestern University, it actually
states in my job description that  I have the authority to make determinations
concerning the disposition of the piano inventory.  The decision to rebuild or
sell a piano involves a high degree of technical knowledge and experience; and
while I often involve faculty in this sort of planning, I am the one who makes
the final determination.  

Before making any decisions about our inventory, it was necessary to determine
what the perfect inventory would be.  I asked faculty members to imagine that
all the pianos in the School of Music had to be removed, and asked them what
they would put in the building if MONEY WAS NOT A CONSIDERATION.   Next,  I
wrote a strategic plan for obtaining this "perfect inventory"  which involved a
program of rebuilding older instruments and purchasing new ones to the tune of 
$2.6 million.

No one has given me the $ 2.6 million, but I did come out of all this with a
very clear idea of what we are trying to achieve, and all the individual
decisions about rebuilding or selling an instrument can be made based on this
over-all goal.  We are keeping all the old Steinway grands and will rebuild and
remanufacture them as a renewable resource.  It is always necessary to freshen
the inventory with new instruments, and it's a lot easier to raise funds to buy
a new Steinway.  There's no glory in buying the university a new set of
hammers, shanks & flanges!

Ken Eschete
Northwestern University


>
> How do you all decide on rebuilding or trading pianos?  We have 30 very
> rebuildable Steinways and my preference (since it is more cost effective) is
> to rebuild and keep them going.  Sometimes pianists just like getting a "new"
> piano - justified or not.  Currently they are trying to raise money for a new
> instrument, and they are targeting the worst looking instrument to replace. 
> Other than the looks it's really OK.  
>  
> What criterion do you use for the rebuild/trade decision?
>  
> dave




Kenneth P. Eschete
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.  USA
k-eschete@nwu.edu

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