What would Steinway do?

[J. Stanley Ryberg]

The two postings copied below are, in my opinion, examples of excellent critical thinking, aided and abetted by years of high-end experience...listen and learn, folks.  Listen and learn.
   
  Rich and all,
  

  I don't believe that it will spell "demise" or disappearance just yet . . .
  

  A few weeks ago there was a thread going on another list about scaling when I wrote the following;
  

  "This topic of scaling inadequacies in shorter pianos has interested me since very early in my concert tuning career, during the late 70's. It has taken three decades for the world of mainstream piano design to make a move. The pace of change remains painfully slow. I believe this is a consequence of the market dominance of one company, which refuses to change their product because they are so successful that they don't have to change a thing. There remains considerably more to be achieved in the area of scaling, if we allow ourselves to move the goal posts to wherever they need to be for best performance. The evolution of the acoustic piano is not yet complete."  

  I think the above has some relevance to your comment Rich, because I believe that the S&S marketing strategy has been so successful that they have found themselves able to continue doing very well, building instruments which are no longer leading edge. Nevertheless, they do seem to know where to draw the line (in Hamburg at least). Baldwin had a similar artist programme to S&S, but they would seem to have taken their casual approach to standards are little too far to keep the balance sheet the right color.
  

  I predict, that when the new raft of thinking piano designers from around the planet start to gain some traction, we'll very likely see S&S respond with an upgraded range, just like Harley did with the V-rod. Eventually, Harley came to the realisation that quality chrome and paint alone wasn't quite enough.
  

  At present though, in piano-land, for some it remains 'steady as she goes'.
  

  Best,
  Ron O.
  ___________
   
  Perhaps you should volunteer to become editor for the list postings.  I
don't really get any of this: rebuilders with "obvious 
vulnerability...".
What's that?  People express their opinions directly and matter of 
factly
out of frustration, disbelief, mostly.  I don't think that those with 
other
ideas about how to approach rebuilding and design are serious threats 
to any
major manufacturers market share.  The criticisms of any manufacturer 
will
make an impact or not based on sheer volume over time, not because 
something
was more tastefully and diplomatically expressed.  Tiptoeing around the
issues and taking care not to ruffle any feathers may be more genteel 
but
I'm not sure it's any more effective and it certainly makes for less
interesting reading.  

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com



Stan Ryberg 
Barrington IL 
jstan40 at sbcglobal.net
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