Steinway bashing, cont.

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: February 22, 2003 3:47 AM
Subject: Re: Steinway bashing, cont.


>
>
> gordon stelter wrote:
>
> > Yes, and not particularly wonderful ones, either!
> > I recently had the pleasure of playing some new
> > Petrofs. WOW! The under-6-foot grand I tried
> > demolished the new "S&S" B's at the University, in
> > every department!!!!!
>
> Speaking as one who has 20 + years working with Petrofs in all sizes and
> sorts, and in all situations... I can only giggle at this comment. Put
> them on a reasonably heavy useage load, and wait 5 years and tell me
> this. That being said... I have always said the Petrof has this really
> nice general sound. Had they combined what they do right, with the
> presicion and all around high quality workmanship of Yamahas... well ...
> THEN they would have a piano that could hamle up with Steinways. At
> least this is true if one is comparing to Hamburg S&S.
>

Ah, Richard...you still miss the point of this discussion. Except for the
folks buying the Steinway decal very few piano buyers give much
consideration to what the piano is going to be like five years down. All
pianos last 500 years or more and they only need tuning once every century
or so and anything that goes wrong before the 50 year warranty is up, it's
the manufacturers fault. "Why, you should see my grandmothers piano...came
around the Horn in a canoe...hasn't been tuned since...still sounds great!."
You and I know how a piano deteriorates over the years, but even the skilled
pianist/buyer sees and hears what is on the floor in front of them.

I had this same discussion with untold numbers of folks back in the 1960s
and 1970s who were considering a certain new import from Japan that was
being compared (by their dealers and a growing number of technicians)
favorably with the Steinway -- similar design, "better workmanship," --
"Just look at the detailing, the stringing, the plate finish, the...," well,
if you were there, you know. One dealer printed a comparison flyer complete
with photos of what to look for -- and to top it off, a much lower cost and
a shiny plastic finish. Little was said about sound quality or longevity. I
said, "yes, but five or ten years from now those pianos you're really not
going to like the sound...." But I may as well have been talking to the
wind.

Bottom line? The Petrof's I've heard on the showroom floor do sound good.
More musical than many, if not most, of the high-priced spread. Our words of
caution are thrown to the wind as the pianist gets wrapped up in the music.

The lesson here is that every manufacturer should be working really hard to
make their pianos sound musical on the showroom floor. "What a wonderful
world it would be...." Barring that, the market is wide open to the
manufacturer or, for that, the dealer, who is willing to take a low-end
piano, spend just a little bit of time on it and make it into musical and
present it as a superior piano. The technician may be able to look five
years down the road, but who, besides the experienced technician, is going
to be able to present a case against it. Let's just go out and sell those
features.

Del