[CAUT] Pramberger pianos?

[Jeff Tanner]

On Apr 25, 2007, at 2:36 PM, Andrew Anderson wrote:

> I'll admit to a little tongue in cheek there.

I knew, but...

>   I owned a samick baby grand called Wurlitzer for a couple of  
> years and hated it.

...this, or some of Samick's older product line is what I expected  
your experience was.  I've got a few of these in my clientele, and I  
have to admit, I know what reaction I'm going to get when I tell  
someone these new pianos are built by Samick.  My mom has a Howard/ 
Baldwin/Samick thing, which was the predecessor of the Wurlitzer.   
She got the first one the Baldwin dealer got in, so that's been a  
while ago.  The 5'8" was a better piano than the smaller ones, with a  
Baldwin R scale, and it has served her very well over the years.   
I've tried to get her to trade up to a better piano but she's happy  
enough with her Howard that she doesn't want to spend any money.  I  
even found her a used Steinway B at a bargain but she said no.  It  
isn't my favorite piano, but I can't complain about how well it has  
held up to her teaching piano and practicing over 25 years.  (she  
does have a lighter touch)  I keep it voiced and in decent  
regulation, and with the laminated soundboard that came in those, it  
rarely needs much tuning, even sitting under an air vent.

>   But the new Knabes with the Baltimore scales in them...that's  
> another story.  Some Bechstein definitely did rub off in that  
> encounter.

Yes, I have a customer who brought a WG-57 Knabe to town with him and  
I love it.  He claims he plays it 3 hours a day, and we tune it twice  
a year.  It really doesn't go out much.  We added a dehumidifier  
system, but that was just for extra protection during summer.  The JP  
Pramberger Platinum Series is similar, but different.  Both have  
Renner actions, but the Pramberger action is a Joe Pramberger  
design.  Both use Renner Blues.  Really nice cabinet work.  They are  
beautiful pianos all around.

I also have Sohmer, which falls somewhere between the two Pramberger  
lines in quality.  Nice focus on cabinetry, but it is also a  
surprisingly good piano for the money.

>   I have a client with a Pramberger upright by Young Chang and it  
> is a false-beat generating machine.  Pretty stabile and not bad to  
> tune now that it has a DC system in it but really disappointing  
> throughout the treble.

I don't really notice any false beats in any of these Samicks. They  
all tune very clean.  Even the wrapped bass unisons all match well.   
I can't say enough about how impressed I am with them.

Oh, and all the grands come with full sostenuto.

Jeff

>
> Andrew Anderson

Jeff Tanner, RPT
University of South Carolina



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