Petrof Grand

[Erwinpiano]

Eric

  Thanks for your succinct and informative post.  Your opinion of the Petrof
is well said and I have enjoyed a new comer that has a far wider and
interesting range of tone colors than so many I'm bored with.  In my opinion
quite under priced as you say. I would truly enjoy servicing and then
playing one of these than to see another of the Asian clone or whatever. The
thing that impressed me primarily was that the boards produce very long and
full sustain. This is a crucial key to holding my musical interest. The rest
of the craftsmanship is evident.
   Just color me weary of the Asian tone.
       Best

     Dale Erwin



----- Original Message -----
From: <EricFrankson@aol.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 11:59 AM
Subject: Re: Petrof Grand


>
>
>  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
>