Newton Hunt wrote: > How many of you, while floor tuning, listened to sales pitches? It has > long been my wonderment what similar fabrications iI get when buying a > car, air conditioner, fridge, carpeting, etc. > > Frightening it is. > > Newton ------------------------- I was once asked to accompany a client of mine to look at a "7 foot Steinway Concert Grand" that was being offered for sale by a (now thankfully defunct) Portland area dealer. The piano turned out to be an ex-reproducer Model A in somewhat less that pristine condition. In a word, it was shot! For the most part I simply looked at the piano, decided even with a new soundboard, pinblock, strings and action it would still not suit my clients needs and indicated to him we could leave any time. The salesman, however, was not quite ready to give up. When asked by my client why there was such a long space between the end of the keys and the tuning pins he smoothly explained that this was a special type of instrument of which only a few were built. The extra space was a tuned acoustic chamber that enhanced the bass notes of the piano, making them sound much longer than they actually were. He explained that for this acoustic chamber to work properly, the piano really needed to be in a full concert hall -- the sound couldn't possibly develop fully in the small confines of the store. He also explained that I might never have seen one before because they were so rare. Steinway only built a couple of them, you see, because that special tuned acoustic chamber added so much to the cost that it wasn't really practical to continue building them. And, yes, he did know who I was and what I did for a living. Ah, well... -- ddf
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