[CAUT] SAMA rebuilding (Juarez)

[Fred Sturm]

	I deleted the recent posts on this subject (Dale Erwin initiated I 
believe, and Guy Nichols), so I don't have the thread name right, but I'd 
like to offer a few comments. I have seen pianos rebuilt by SAMA, and I can 
state with utter assurance that they bore no resemblance whatsoever to what 
Dale described (with possible exception of the finish). I'm not going to 
say that SAMA is in the top 10% of piano rebuilders in the country for 
quality, but it is definitely in the top half. Workmanship is basically of 
"factory floor" quality - needs tweaking in the final "finish booth" or at 
the dealer, but definitely in the ball park.
	It should be understood that SAMA does a lot of refinishing, but 
relatively little action work. The "basic package" includes case refinish, 
soundboard shim and refinish, plate re-gild, new block and restring, all 
for under $4000. They also do case refinish alone at a very competitive 
price. Shipping via piano specialist mover is probably $500 or so round 
trip. So lots of dealers are taking advantage.
	I suspect that lots of shady dealers just send for the refinish, and do 
their own shoddy work on the rest. We all know there are a lot of awful 
characters out there, fleecing the public and running down our profession. 
SAMA is not one of them.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico