Samick Pianos and many others

[Antares]

>I have heard repeatedly on this and the rec.music-makers.piano list that
>smaller Korean pianos ( Samick has been mentioned ) are inferior and may
>not last past a generation.  Well, of course, there is a Samick upright
>sitting in my living room.  I have no idea how it got there, but there
>it is.  My questions are:
>
>What is inferior about the piano?
>What is likely to deteriorate over time? 
>What should I look out for (both by physical inspection and change in
>sound)?
>Is there anything that I can do from a maintenance standpoint that will
>delay the deterioration of the piano?
>
>Dan

Well Dan,
These kind of pianos and many others of the same sort of quality are mainly being bought by customers who :

a. do not have enough playing experience
b. do not have listening experience
c. do not have enough money
d. do not want to spend enough money

My thoughts on this matter are :
If the piano was bought because the customer didn't have enough experience but knows better now, than it would be best to trade the piano in for a better one and try to make a very good deal with the shop where it all started.
If, for some reason, this would not be a possibility (because of.. anything) then I would have the piano treated by a well known and excellent technician (whatever the cost) to make sure that the very best will come out of it, and also to give the piano a certain healthy technical and acoustical basis for future enjoyment.
In (more) other words:
Either get rid of it and get a better one, or have it regulated, tuned, and voiced by a technical wizzard to get the best out of it.
This may sound unpleasant, but you ask for advice and some people are willing to stick out their electronic necks.
On the other hand..these kind of things happen all the time to everybody.
That is how we learn to judge about quality (at least that is how I learn in buying 20th century articles..it is very common knowledge that there is a market for every wallet.
The Samicks are not the worst ones, they are filling a huge gap because of their price.
Look at all the so called east block instruments, the thousands and thousands of cheapest pieces of junk, and many professional east block pianists had to (and some still have to) make do with them.
The Samicks are holy compared to Cherny, Chaika, Chinese toy pianos, and many other undescribable p.s.o ans p.o.s. I have seen during my 25 years as a piano technician.
So it is also a matter of luxury.
And that's but my gratis opinion (maybe I am dumb, I should charge $ 100,-!)   (:>)



Friendly greetings from :
          
CONCERT PIANO SERVICE
André Oorebeek
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
       
‰  where MUSIC is no harm can be  ‰