piano recommendation

[Fred Yonley]

The Steinway B at one of the largest churches in Dallas where I service
pianos took a turn for the worst recently. Since its last tuning in early
Jan. when the tone was ok, the tone has suddenly dropped off especially
from C5 on up. The treble bridge has apparently rolled in the C6 to C7
area. There is negative downbearing on many notes in the C5 to C7 region
and not much crown there or in the middle of the board.  It has been dry in
the Dallas area for some time and this church has extremes in humidity.
Humidity control has not worked well since the humidistat gets unplugged
too often.  The piano gets moved from the stage fairly often to make room
for other events. That is when it gets unplugged and often does not get
replugged right away when it is moved back several days later. It has 2
dehumidifier rods and humidistat. A humidifier was out of the question for
obvious reasons.

I am recommending that they stay with Steinway given the fact that they
hold up well in adverse situations. This piano was made in the 70's. (Don't
know if they bought it new)  Given the environment I think that other makes
would have also had problems and gone belly up (actually down) by now.
There does not seem to be much interest in restoring this piano when I
mentioned the price of a new board, etc.

They like the Steinway tone, but I am not sure whether they can afford a
new one at this time. Does anyone else have a suggestion as to another make
that would hold up well?.  I am wondering about Petrof as an alternative.
Perhaps the name conjures up some image of toughness.  Our next Chapter
meeting in several weeks will be at the local Petrof Dealer and they will
be showing off the Petrof. I have seen the Petrof at conventions and
thought they had some good things going for them.  A used B may be the way
to go if the right one shows up.  Anyone know of one in top shape?

Thanks for any input

Fred Yonley, RPT