Hastings piano

[John Musselwhite]

At 01:47 PM 4/19/99 -0500, John wrote: 

>
> Does anyone know much about a new Hastings piano? I think it is about 4-5
> years old, and from my recollection, it is a Chinese import, or some other
> low-quality import. Is the company still in business?


I hope not, or at least that the product has improved somewhat. A chill goes up
my spine whenever I see them.

>
> The reason I ask is that I have a customer who bought one, and now the tuning
> pins are becoming loose. I want to be able to recommend either warranty
> service, exchange, or refund; but I have no data on the company.


When you extract some of those tuning pins you may find that on at least some
of them there are no threads at all. The string sizes may not make much sense
either and tuning with a SAT may be problematic as the first F may give a
negative number or one just on the positive side. Tuning at ALL may be
problematic, actually.

You may also find that (among other things) the capstans are loose. Apparently
capstan wrenches were at a premium in the factory in those days and so they
used a hammer to knock them down and a fork to pry them back up. 

If I recall the dealer carried the warranty on them, which was part of the
reason why they were so inexpensive. IMO, they were the absolute bottom of the
line as far as new pianos imported to this continent are concerned and are
truly deserving of the phrase "Piano Shaped Object" since they look fairly
decent from a distance. I do feel sorry for those who bought these PSOs
thinking they were "real" pianos that were going to last for at least a few
years, but sometimes salesmen can be pretty persuasive, especially when people
are out looking for a "deal" already.

There is an article in one of the older Journals about visiting Chinese piano
factories in that era. It's most enlightening... if not a bit frightening. 

                John

John Musselwhite, RPT -  Calgary, Alberta Canada
Registered Piano Technician   http://www.musselwhite.com
email: john@musselwhite.com - blues@musselwhite.com