Petrof Grand

[EricFrankson@AOL.COM]

 the piano of the Soviet bloc countries.  When the wall came down in '87, 
Petrof began importing to America through Geneva International.  What was a 
problem before 1987, that of state controlled mismanagement and poor quality 
control, became a plus after 1987 since the Czech's didn't use up their 
supplies of old growth spruce and beech, unlike the Germans and the 
Austrians.  Petrof supplies woods to the region's top piano manufacturers, 
and in turn has incorporated german steel strings, Renner actions, sand-cast 
plates, some of the finest felt I've seen, etc...  

The first Petrof's that were introduced needed alot of re-regulation, 
voicing, and tuning.  There are some dealer's that are selling as new 
Petrof's that have been on their floor since the mid-nineties.  Compare those 
to what's coming out of the Petrof factory now, and you'll see a much 
improved entry-level performance piano.  Pricing runs around $19,000 for a 
5'8" model IV.  I've been told by piano technicians that the Petrof grand is 
way underpriced, and the increased sales of the pianos verses the Yamaha seem 
to point to that ( the choice being, purchase a mass produced machine-made 
Asian instrument using the least expensive materials to create a piano of a 
certain performance level, or buy a hand-built labor-intensive European 
instrument from a 145 year old company that uses some of the finest woods in 
the world...at the same price point.  Hmmm?).  The veneers in Mahogany and 
Walnut are really beautiful, too.  The new instruments seem to need a bit of 
voicing (they come in rather bright, but in a bell-like way verses a brassy 
way), but have tremendous sustain.  This new crop of Petrof's are exceptional 
for the price.

Sincerely, 
Eric Frankson