Anything special I should check out in Vienna? - Bosendorfer?

Les Smith lessmith@buffnet.net
Sat, 17 Aug 1996 22:26:14 -0400 (EDT)


Well, Carol, mine is probably a minority opinion, but, personally I'd
pass on visiting the Bosendorker, oops, Bosendorfer factory. Why? Well
simply put, speaking as both a technician AND a pianist, I feel that
recent Bosendorfers are not the pianos they once were. What they are
are the most over-priced pianos in the world. To someone who tells me that
they absolutely have to have a Bosendorker, oops Bosendorfer, I reply
this way: Instead, buy a top-of-the-line Steinway, or Baldwin, or Yamaha,
or Kawai. Then, hire a technician to remove the decal from the fallboard
and replace it one that says Bosendorfer. No one will ever know the
difference except you when you check the balance in your bank account.
People will be all sorts of impressed when they see that Bosendorfer
decal and will say things like: "Oh, wow, a Bosendorfer! I never knew that
they sounded THAT good!" Only you will know that they don't! This brings
up the question of what to do with all that money you saved by NOT buying
the Bosendorker, oops Bosendorfer. Well...you could send part of it to
me for coming up with such a great idea in the first place!

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net

PS Sorry guys, I just couldn't resist! Now before you pull out those
flame-throwers, let me add that some of the finest pianos I've ever
worked on or played were the older Boseys. Despite press to the con-
trary, the fact is that the newer Bosendorfers HAVE changed, and, in
my humble opinion, not for the better. I would also suggest that Bosen-
dorfers current financial problems are, in part, due to those changes.
In the meantime, I'm changing into my asbestos underwear! BTW, in case
you're wondering, NO, Bosendorfer does NOT send me a card at Christmas
time!

ls

On Sat, 17 Aug 1996, Carol Beigel wrote:

> Dear List:  Next month, for the first time in my life, I am going
> visiting across the big pond to Lucern, Lugano, Venice, Salzburg, Vienna
> and Munich.  I know that Mozart was from Salzburg, and Vienna was a
> favorite of Beethoven and Strauss.  Also, I understand the Bosendorfer
> factory is located in Vienna.  Is it worth seeing?  Are there any
> special places in these cities that would particulary interest a piano
> technician?  Obviously I have no concept of Europe, but I don't want to
> miss something that I could have seen if I knew it was there!  Any
> advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.
>
> Carol Beigel, RPT
> College Park, Maryland
>
>




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