[CAUT] Jeanie's brain storm - was Boston changed to dealers...

[Jeff Tanner]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Jeanie's brain storm - was Boston changed to dealers...


> For the most part there are no differences in how they should be prepped
> with the exception, perhaps, of voicing.  The usual stuff of regulation,
> string seating, bolt tightening, etc, is fairly universal.  A particular
> manufacturer's tonal leaning can vary of course.  You wouldn't want to try
> and make Yamaha's sound like Steinways or vice versa, nor are you likely 
> to
> be able to.  I think that any competent tech ought to be able to prep any
> piano even if they've never seen it or heard of it and the tonal signature
> of a particular instrument should be something that you can figure out on
> the fly.

Agreed, to some extent, depending on the level of prep. Small things, 
though, like, say a string breaks on a NY Steinway, you really ought to know 
to put a Mapes wire back on so that you have a better chance of the partials 
matching up.  And, staying with Steinway, you can regulate escapement pretty 
consistently, "off the jack", but you can't get the same results on a 
Boston, and you'll have use a different method.  There will most definitely 
be "personality" issues that either limit or allow what you can do with one 
action, tone, tuning, etc., versus another brand.

Each brand deserves to carry the touch and sound it considers to be its 
signature. I know that SMC, for example, is pretty peculiar about how techs 
in the factory approach certain procedures on their Knabe pianos. They don't 
want to know all your ideas about how you've done it in the past on a Yamaha 
or a Steinway. They want it done their way to preserve their signature and 
streamline production.  Steinway and Yamaha similarly have their different 
approaches, and it ain't just marketing, it's they way they want it done. 
That's why companies apply for patents, and that's why customers are brand 
loyal. When a customer sees the name on the fallboard, they're not seeing 
Tanner or Love or Nossaman. They're buying into something that they believe 
transcends the work of the service technician.

>> Since most dealers have a number of different techs at their disposal 
>> often
> with varying levels of experience and expertise, the quality of the prep
> work can vary quite a bit.

I think this is where we differ on perspective.  If you substitute the word 
"some" in place of the word "most", I think you'll understand the different 
perspective.  I submit that "most" dealers just use techs who are basically 
capable of rough floor tunings and wouldn't know how to do most of that 
stuff you mentioned in the first section above.  Maybe ya'll do it different 
out there, but I know what I've seen in the southeast.

Jeff