Korean "Samick" pianos

[Les Smith]

>
> Is anyone esle having trouble keeping these things in tune? I have
> many customers with brands made by Samick and a dealer I do some work
> for who just took on the Kohler & Campbell line. I think virtually
> every one of these things has difficulty staying in tune. Of all my
> other customers it is extreemly rare that I ever hear of them going
> out of tune wihtin what is considered a normal time frame.
<snip>

Hi, Greg.  Samick (and Young-Chang) have had this problem for years. It's
not at all uncommon to find a brand new, fresh-out-of-the-crate Samick a
1/2 step or even a whole step below pitch (sometimes more!). I've always
suspected that the cause of their inability to hold a tune when new was
a lack of sufficient tunings in the factory before they are shipped. Like
instead of tuning them a dozen or more times before they're shipped, they
try to get away with half that many. What this means to you, the technician
at this end, is that they have to be tuned more frequently the first couple
of years (like 4 times a year) and that each of those tunings will require
SEVERAL passes before the tune stabilizes. EVENTUALLY they do stabilize and
hold a tune for a reasonable length of time, but only after a lot of extra
tuning work on your part during those first couple of years. So if one of
your clients buys a new Samick product it's up to you to explain to them that
it's going to need FREQUENT tuning during it's first 2-3 years. Most dealers
"soft-pedal" the idea that a new piano requires more frequent tuning than an
older one, so it's not uncommon to walk in on a two or three year old Samick
that's NEVER been tuned and is now a third or so below pitch. Getting THAT
sucker to stabilize is really going to be a job! In such a situation BOTH
Excedrine and bad language are probably the order of the day! :)

Les Smith