Well, I don't think Americans lack skill, but it's directed differently. As a maybe indefensible generalization, I'd say that free-wheeling American techs, particularly many who aren't RPTs, are more prone to tinker with things than to follow rules, and tend to learn by trial and error rather than from strict apprenticeship. Unfortunately trials and errors occur here too often on pianos that weren't great to begin with, which begs questions of how quality is controlled and what management's role is in enforcing it in the factory--but that's another issue. If piano standards here today are lax, it's because our middle-class market doesn't demand excellence anymore, if it ever did. Democracy is a messy system. Still, our best work is as fine as anyone else's. And quality control isn't just an American problem, as Toyota has shown us.
Laurence
----- Original Message -----
From: Fred Sturm
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 7:36 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Congratulations to Don Mannino
On Mar 29, 2010, at 3:36 PM, Laurence Libin wrote:
In my limited experience, Japanese and German-trained techs are often technically virtuosic, but maybe not quite so good at thinking outside the box in order to solve problems of unfamiliar, run-down pianos, of which US techs see lots. Like car mechanics who specialize in one make or even one model, they can sometimes be flummoxed by anomalies they rarely encounter, especially in second-rate instruments. Still, their rigorous schooling has much to recommend it, if only more Americans could afford it and had the patience and mind-set it requires. However, American techs, at least as represented in this cohort, seem more willing to share knowledge and tips, and this collegiality goes a long way toward keeping standards high.
Laurence
I agree essentially with these sentiments, but there are some other aspects to the question. It is probably accurate to saythat, for example, the average Japanese-trained tech is more focused on standard measurements, and is perhaps lost without them, while the American is more likely to have a pragmatic approach of figuring out measurements to make it work. But the flip side of this is that the American tends to be sloppier, the attitude of "making it work" tends to lead to loose standards.
Similarly, Americans are rightly praised for inventiveness, open-mindedness, and willingness to share knowledge. But sometimes that inventiveness tends to lead to a culture of reaching for the latest fad in place of the intricate number of basic steps that make up a good result. So we run after the latest magic hammer, tap bridge pins, obsess about over or under centering, try the latest voicing voodoo, etc. etc. thinking that the latest fix will solve all our problems, placed on top of our work that is adequate to "make it work" but not really refined. And the results are predictably uneven.
One of the great blessings of the national conventions is the opportunity to be exposed to fine pianos prepped meticulously. Over the past ten or so years I have been attending regularly, I have been struck more and more by the attention to detail as the defining factor in why I particularly like certain piano makes consistently - generally the German makes and the Shigeru Kawai. And the skill to make pianos this refined is lacking in the US. For good reason: most of us (maybe not on this list) are home service techs, and we have very little opportunity to practice the craft at a high level. We cauts are very lucky in that regard, in that at least most of us have that opportunity.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain
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