Steinway bashing, cont.

[gordon stelter]

Thanks, Del!
  I really know nothing about Petrof's manufacturing
processes. All I know is that THIS piano had a sweet,
lovely, but not too "candy" tone, a moderate, smooth
responsive action and was very nicely tuned with
Coleman's double octave/SAT method. I had to drag
myself from it! It was WAY nicer to play than the "B"s
at the U, even when they have just been tuned. Way!
     Thump
P.S. I have heard that Teddy Wilson liked Petrofs.

--- Delwin D Fandrich <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
wrote:
> 
> ----- 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pianotech list info:
https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


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