[pianotech] S&S B

[Delwin D Fandrich]

I'm well aware of the problems Steinway pianos had during the era you (your
client) is wanting to avoid. God knows I worked on enough of them when they
were new, or nearly so. Still, you (they) are looking for a core piano to
rebuild and my question is, "Why does its age matter?" I have a late 1960s
Model L at the moment that I'm in the middle of. I'm doing the same work to
this piano that I'd do with just about any 40 to 50+ year old Steinway. I'm
replacing the soundboard and bridges (and cleaning up the stringing scale),
I'm replacing the pinblock, tuning pins and strings, I'm replacing dampers
and damper action, the wippens, the hammershanks and hammers, etc. About the
only things left of the original will be the belly and that is well made and
sound, the flyparts all fit and why should I care when it was originally put
together? The results will be the same no matter when it was first put
together.

 

ddf

 

Delwin D Fandrich

Piano Design & Fabrication

6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA

Phone  360.515.0119 - Cell  360.388.6525

 <mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com> del at fandrichpiano.com -
<mailto:ddfandrich at gmail.com> ddfandrich at gmail.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of William Monroe
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2011 2:44 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] S&S B

 

Yes, folks,

 

I know CBS didn't manufacture pianos.  I clipped the description from my
clients email, and figured all you educated folks would instantly understand
what I meant.  I apologize.  As Will noted, that is precisely it.  Not from
the CBS era.  It is the client's opinion (wright or wrong) that pianos of
that era are unpleasant at best.  I tend to agree that S&S pianos from the
50's can be much worse, but as Ed mentioned, I've seen way too many truly
AWFUL actions from between 1960 and 1980-ish to consider picking one up
sight unseen.

 

In the end, it doesn't really matter a heck of a lot to me.  We evaluate the
piano for what it is and determine what it needs to be great.  That can be
anything from a new action only, to action, pinblock, board, bridges,
finish, trapwork, lyre, etc.  So, I guess my position is that I'd rather
work on any piano from any era so long as the client has a clear
understanding of what we're up against and what it costs to fix that problem
before they commit to buying it.  It's just that it sometimes simplifies
things a bit to hedge a bet against 19(50) - 1980(ish).  

 

William R. Monroe

 

 

 

On Sat, Oct 8, 2011 at 2:08 PM, Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft
<alliedpianocraft at hotmail.com> wrote:

"Personally I'd rather work on a piano built during the CBS years than one
built during the decade or two leading up to that time."

 

Yes, the quality in the late 50's and early 60's was nothing to write home
about and I don't really know why. It was probably because the work force
was aging and new help was hard to find. Those that applied had to be
trained. That was my opportunity. I started there in 1963 and trained under
Fred Drasche for 1 year along with 4 other applicants. I was the only one
that stayed with the company. I'm sure that had some effect on the quality
at that time. 

 

As you read from other on this list, they think the opposite is true, but as
you say, CBS pumped quite a bit of money into the company to make
improvements. The thing that upset most of us working there, was when they
took two to four weeks of inventory between departments and knocked it down
to one. If there was a problem in any department, there wouldn't be enough
work to sustain the following department. Other than that, steady
improvements were made while I was there. The Tone Regulators I worked with,
were very conscientious and truly tried to make a quality piano. But we had
no old timers in that department. Most had already retired or went on the
start their own business.

 

Al -

High Point, NC

 

 

On Oct 8, 2011, at 12:51 PM, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:





Until recently Steinway's build quality has never been much to write home
about. But the worst years came some before CBS purchased the company. That
was the turn-around event for the company. CBS may have screwed with the
finances but they also poured money into the company and set the stage for
the company's comeback.

 

I started working on pianos in the 1960s so the Steinway pianos built during
the last few years of Steinway family ownership were still new or relatively
new. Their build quality had been going down for years and, in my view, it
reached a low point during the late 60s and early 70s. I spent many hours
with Steinway executives and I worked on literally hundreds of Steinway
pianos from the 70s through the early 80s. There was a strong desire on the
part of management and workers alike to improve the quality of the
instruments. Management was trying a lot of different things; some worked
and some didn't. I didn't work at the factory as Al Guecia did-I worked on
the finished product-so I have no idea how various management decisions
affected the various departments or the individual workers but during my
visits to the factory the improvements in infrastructure were obvious. These
were the result of CBS money and I remain convinced that without CBS money
the both the factory infrastructure and the build quality of Steinway pianos
would have continued to decline and we probably would not have a Steinway
company today. Instead there was a turnaround during the CBS years, a
foundation was laid for the company's recovery and the pianos have been
improving ever since. Their overall build quality is better now than at any
time in its history.

 

Personally I'd rather work on a piano built during the CBS years than one
built during the decade or two leading up to that time.

 

ddf

 

Delwin D Fandrich

Piano Design & Fabrication

6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA

Phone  360.515.0119 - Cell  360.388.6525

del at fandrichpiano.com - ddfandrich at gmail.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Encore Pianos
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2011 8:58 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] S&S B

 

Hi Al:

 

The perceived "insinuation" may not be on William's part.  As a piano dealer
for 7 years and someone who has bought and sold may Steinway grands, rebuilt
and otherwise, it was my experience that many potential "knowledgable"
Steinway vintage buyers were disinterested in any pianos from the CBS
period.  I had many phone calls where the buyer would lose interest
immediately when I informed them that a particular piano was from that era.
Right or wrong, it's a fact of life. 

 

I did sell one 1972 Steinway B to a church.  It had a great board, lots of
dynamics, and huge potential.  The Teflon action was in tough shape and it
needed lots of other action work.  So I sold the piano on its potential and
their faith in me that they would get a great piano after I rebuilt the
action and voiced the piano.  They did.

 

That piano did have some quality issues.  Action fitting and damper action
fitting was not to Steinway's best tolerances.  Bridge notching was not
great.  I won't extrapolate beyond that to all Steinways from that period,
and I will say that mistakes were made in every era.  Anyone who has rebuilt
for a while discovers dirty little secrets in every piano. 

 

Will Truitt

 

 

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2011 10:44 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] S&S B

 

I don't understand what you mean by "not CBS manufactured". CBS never
manufactured Steinway pianos, only Steinway manufactured Steinway pianos.
They just bought the company and screwed with the finances. 

 

I worked there during that period and the only thing that changed was the
inventory between departments. They felt it was waisted capitol and what
they accomplished by that move was layoffs for lack of inventor between
departments. The pianos got through the factory fasted and didn't have as
much time to settle, but we had the same management and the quality remained
the same.

 

Since I and my department were the last to work on and inspect those pianos,
I take exception to the insinuation that the pianos were of lesser quality.

 

Al -

High Point, NC

 

 

 

On Oct 7, 2011, at 8:30 PM, William Monroe wrote:

 

Hi List,

 

Anyone have a Steinway B, unrestored, needing work, not CBS manufactured,
1920s through 1960s?

 

Let me know if you do, I have someone looking for one.

 

Contact me off list:

bill at a440piano.net

 

 

William R. Monroe

 

 

 

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