SAMA Piano Rebuilders

[Nichols]

Philip,
     SAMA is run by Salvador Ortiz, who was with Baldwin for 29 years as 
plant manager in Juarez, Mexico (across from El Paso) . It is an 
American-owned company, operating a Maquila (twin) plant. They are 
remanufacturing number one thousand, thirty-something this week, along with 
about seven others. They service a lot of dealers, nationwide.
     Three years ago, the mix of instruments was about 90% "no-name" to 10% 
major brand. Now, with production at about 1.6 pianos a day, the mix is 
about 90% Steinway to 10% Baldwin/Mason/etc. Plus various verticals, 
although the verts are mainly in for finish.
     The numbers speak for themselves, and... yes, some customers have had 
issues that had to be corrected. SAMA is a plant, not a shop, but they do 
stand behind their work . Shipping is reasonable, with Keyboard, and 
turn-around time is, well, not as fast as they would like, but not too bad, 
considering.
     Terry (bless his heart) mentions finding a more reputable rebuilder. 
If you've got somebody in your area with more experience, by all means, use 
them. The marketing office where your flyer came from has references.
     I am the "tech consultant" for SAMA, and do receive compensation for 
my services, so please accept my opinion with that in mind. Most dealers 
and technicians find that the services provided by SAMA are a good value, 
for the money, and allow them to catch-up on backlogs and also allow for a 
modest profit on instruments that might not be otherwise economically viable.
     Any questions or concerns of a technical nature can be directed at me. 
Also, tours are welcome.

Regards,
Guy Nichols, RPT

At 11:46 PM 11/16/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>I got a folder today from SAMA Rebuilders who offer a very low price to
>rebuild and refinish pianos. It's not mentioned in the literature, but the
>work is done in Mexico (this is mentioned on their web site,
>www.samapiano.com). Anyone had any experience with these folks?
>
>Philip Jamison
>West Chester, PA
>
>_______________________________________________
>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives