On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 8:37 AM, Aaron Bousel <abousel at comcast.net> wrote: > Our department (UMass Amherst) is in the process of taking bids on some new > verticals. They've received bids for Yamaha, Hailun, Suzuki and Sauter. I > just received the following in an email from the department chair: > > ================ > "What I need is any specific reasons why Hailin or Suzuki are not at the > Yamaha level. Everyone so far agrees we need to go w/ the Yamahas, but I > need specific reasons why the Suzuki or Hailin's don't work---poor tone, > action is known for too request repairs, or??? " > ================ > > This is a state school and they may be required to go with the lowest bid > unless they can show good cause not to. The models in question are: > Hailun HU 116 vs. Yamaha P22 > Suzuki AU8 vs. Hailun HU5, vs. Yamaha U1 > > This is the first time since I've been here that we're buying pianos and > also the first time the department chair has actually consulted me on a > piano issue. > > Have any of you had any direct experience with these pianos and can answer > his questions? Beyond siting Yamaha's reputation and track record (and the > fact that we have some 40 year old verticals that are still in service) I'm > not sure how to respond to his request. As you can see from his email, this > is not a matter of deciding which piano they want, but of justifying the > extra expense to the higher ups. > > thanks for you help, > Aaron > > > ------------------------------------------ > Aaron Bousel > Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild > abousel at comcast.net > (413) 253-3846 (voice & fax) > My experience with schools buying pianos is usually someone in the music department, those who will be using the pianos, has an opinion. They frequently want to see & play the pianos offered. My experience with Yamaha is that this is possible, not so with Suzuki, last I heard(2 years ago)they were only available via internet sales. I am not familiar with the Hailun, except for those pianos they build under other names. My point is if the pianos aren't coming through a dealership, where some sort of prep can be expected & there is someone local to stand behind it, that would be a red flag for me. Mike -- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100827/303a1a12/attachment.htm>
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