While stuck in traffic the other day (joy of working in the big city) I had a chance to ponder the 'Petrof question'. I decided that this was not much different from my family's recent purchase of a sport utility vehicle that my wife will use. After hearing all the details (sales pitches) about each companies' offering, it still comes down to: How's it drive? You could ask your mechanic (yup, us piano techs) about a particular brand, and he could give you all sorts of unrelated information about repair records, parts availablity, methods of manufacture, but if he doesn't own one, he wouldn't know how it drives. I don't work on many Petrofs, but when I'm done with any of them, I get that "wow" feeling when I sit down to play some music. Not many other pianos do that for me. There is one Steinway, a Kawai, and a Yamaha full upright that gives me the same feeling among the instruments I service. Maybe the local dealer is doing something right, (though I did have to rework one pedal lyre to get it to work right) maybe Petrofs suit my playing style and repetoire. I don't have any connection with any of the dealers or companies, so I'm just shootin' from the hip here. There are lots of different reasons to choose different brands. Baldwin uprights last like tanks in school settings, I'd rather tune a Yamaha, they are easier for me to 'hear'. I like working on Kawai actions, all that plastic is SO even. Many people will only own Steinways, though they are my least favorite ones to tune. I usually tell people that it is a very personal choice; the piano is a piece of furniture, choose what you like. Play (bring along someone if you don't) the same pieces on different instruments to find a sound that you like. Make sure it plays as loud and as soft in all registers that you want to hear. It doesn't matter if I like the sound, I'm only going to hear it once or twice a year! I have a friend that loves her Samick grand. I swear the treble will cut steel! She had it voiced brighter. I use earplugs to survive tuning that instrument! It plays like she wants it to - that's what important. So, go play them all, find one you like that you can afford and make sure you will get that particular instrument (not another one 'just' like it! There is too much variation from piano to piano) and take good care of your piano, it really makes a difference in the music that even beginners can make. Ron Koval finally out of traffic in Chicago _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
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