Dear Sy: I did the original layout of the Walter console when it was a Conn 48. We gave it this name because it had Bass strings over 48 inches. that is more than most modern tall uprights have today. Chuck Walter was my boss (term of endearment). He had the wisdom to shoot for the most we could get into the case. He has improved it a couple of times since, providing more tail length for the lowest strings. His soundboard is more expensive, the case is the finest case in the industry, the action is full size, the integrity of the workers and management is impeccable. I believe integrity is the most important thing. While 7 other American factories were going south (not just geographically) his product improved and they priced it to stay in business and Walter has steadily grown. I used to be in the printing business. My favorite cartoon was of a guy who stopped in a print shop to order some printing and he said: "I used to get this done for half that price from Jo Bleaux down the street before he went out of business." A moral of this story could be: If one is the lowest priced technician in his area and he is starting to get only junky pianos to work on, s/he might consider raising prices. Perception is important as well as integrity, especially when matched with quality performance. Jim Coleman, Sr. On Tue, 26 Nov 1996, Sy Zabrocki wrote: > >From Sy Zabrocki > > Many a tuner has questioned why the piano industry felt so compeled to build the spinet piano. By the late 30's the industry undoubtedly received the message the public was resisting the old upright. So why go from one extreme to the other? Enough has b een said about the spinet. The spinet is almost dead so forget it. > > An even bigger question is why was there this compulsion to build even the consoles too small. It didn't take the foreign makers long to see the folly in the 41" console. Both Yamaha and Kawai built a few 41" but only for a short time. I bought my first 41" Kawai in 1969. > > The 43" size is ideal for a console. It provides sufficient string length and soundboard area and allows for a larger better performing action. The two inches additional height makes almost no difference in the home. Some of the 41" actions were just to o compressed. It was ridiculous. > > In the 70's and up to 1981 I was selling Everett. It was one of the better consoles. When the Kawai franchise became available to me I dropped the Everett in a heart beat. But what would have happened if Everett, Krakauer, Sohmer, Mason & Hamlin, Chick ering, Knabe and others had all been 43" pianos. It's just possible some of them might still be around. Many dealers really did want to stay with U.S. pianos. Isn't it ironic that one of the few U.S. makers still on the scene is the Charles Walter and it is a 43" piano. Very expensive though. > > Back in the 30's and 40's it's unlikely the public was demanding pianos this small. The public buys what you put in front of them to some degree. Certainly the two inches additional height would not have turned them off. It's almost like it was a contes t among makers to see who could condense it down the most. Well, it's water on the bridge now. It's too bad it couldn't have been different. > > Sy Zabrocki >
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