More on Samick

[Stan M. Kroeker]

I'm delighted to add another perspective to the interesting bipolar
discussion on Samick quality.  My fascination with these instrument began
before my 7 year tenure as Service Manager with Samick Canada (R.R. Loewen
Distributors).  Feel free to take the following with a grain of salt but
throughout 15 years of distribution of Samick pianos in Canada, the
percentage of warranty claims remained in the low single digits.  Reliable
industry insiders confirmed that this figure was roughly equivalent to
warranty claims of other major manufacturers/distributors.

I know what you are thinking;  this has little to do with the type of
qualitive analysis to which we technicians enjoy subjecting pianos.  Or
does it?  There must be some corelation.  Believe me, if there is a problem
in the field, dealers are usually most anxious to burn up the phone lines
passing responsibility back to the guarantor, and rightly so.  Further,
more than fifty percent of claims received were for cosmetic defects
(polyester flaws) and most of the remaining mechanical and resonant
structure problems could be attributed to factory goof-ups (Friday
afternoon pianos).  So once you take into account the tremendous negative
influence of Canada's weather extremes, this leave a very small number of
pianos with inexplicable gremlins. This summary is based on many thousands
of Samick pianos sold in Canada over the past 15 years.

As far as 'junk woods don't sing' and 'lack of tonal color variation', I'm
having some difficulty believing we are talking about the same instruments.
I don't claim to be a master voicer, far from it, but I have never
experienced difficulty optimising the tone on a Samick (my playing skills
could be described as surprisingly mediocre for such an advanced pianist).
Obviously, the larger the instrument, the greater the potential for this
type of improvement.  I believe that superior tone is greater than the sum
of the physical components which generate it.  I don't listen to the rim,
or the hammers, or any individual component when qualifying the musical
tone of the piano.

As an aside, I have a great deal of respect for our colleagues in the
province of Quebec who undertook a brave experiment at the Northeast Region
Seminar a few years ago in Quebec City.  With great trepidation, those of
us exhibiting pianos from the major manufacturers each agreed to allow one
of our grand pianos to be used in what was billed as a 'Piano Tone
Tasting'.  The exact number escapes me, but roughly seven instruments were
placed on stage, separated from the audience by portable screens.  Each
piano had its identifying marks, names, etc. covered with tape and several
local artists proceeded to play short exerpts from their 'bread and butter'
repertoire, on each piano.  In my discussions with these artists after
their performances, eyebrows were raised when they learned that one of
their preferred instruments had been a Samick.

More later and best regards to all,

Stan M. Kroeker, RPT