Cheap or not cheap, that's the question......

[Antares]

> Blanket statements on any type of piano is always dangerous. Our
>relationships with the musical community will only work if we just keep
>trying to educate in a caring manner, as opposed to dogmatic opions, which
>just leads to confrontation.

After having read a number of e-mails about this issue, I would like to express the fact that I too have an understanding about the eventual problems that might come forward between the sale of a cheaper built instrument, the customer who purchased it, and the technician who will be asked afterwards to service the instrument.

In my imagination it comes to this:
There are three parties involved...the maker of the piano - the customer - the technician.
The maker of the piano, the owner of the factory, has found a way to earn his bread (and hopefully much more) by fabricating instruments at the lowest cost possible. (a healthy thought)
The customer usually demands value "for money". (a healthy thought)
The technician is the person on the front line...he/she has to be well trained technically speaking, he/she has to be diplomatic, and show a certain "customer sensitivity" in order to have a better succes in his/her trade.
The technician is also the "middleman/woman" between the piano dealer and the customer.
It must be clear and evident that the technician plays the most difficult role.
After having been a technician for a long time, I now roughly divide the average kind of piano tuner/technician in three categories :
a. The tuner/tech who, after years of piano labor, takes it all for granted, the numbing down has set in and he/she is waiting for the end of the battle, hoping it will be over with not too much damage and as soon as possible.(this may be the smartest tech after all!)
b. The tuner/tech who, after years of piano labor, still takes an active interest and is willing to improve his/her skills, but not at all cost. (not very unintelligent either!)
c. The tuner/tech who, after years of piano labor, still has only one goal : to obtain the highest skill possible (within the limits of the physical and mental capacities) by actively taking part in seminars, factory training and non-stop day and night working on the concert and studio instruments. (probably the dumbest of the three?)
Furthermore, a pianotechnician, (generally speaking) is basically a technician, and not a sales person. 
This immediately shows a weakness and an eventual conflict in the relation between the three described parties : The Pianomaker, the piano sales person, the pianotechnician.
When I, as a technician, am being called to service a newly bought but cheap and badly fabricated piano in the home of a customer, I am not allowed to answer with the straight truth (for diplomatic reasons) when being asked for my opinion. 
If however, a technical problem arises, I am the one who has to solve it (and usually without any support from the dealer who is generally speaking not too much interested in spending extra money) or otherwise loose one customer and one slice of bread.

In my experience, it is very difficult to have any influence in the improvement of a bad product.
The Factory owner usually shrugs one or two shoulders, the piano dealer doesn't want a conflict with the main source, nor with the customer..and, the technician again is the go-between.
It is because of my own (of course) experiences with this matter, that I have chosen NOT to work anymore on badly made pianos, they have cost me too much money, spent on aspirins and pepto bismal This is obviously also a commercial choice, and I do realise that not every technician has this luxury.
On the other hand, if we, as tuner/technicians try to move up to higher technical levels, we also (naturally) attract more beautiful and more rewarding instruments (and more heartburn too). 
By working on more "developed" instruments, we gain more insight, and through insight we spend less energy and get a better result.
If we have more experience and technical understanding, we might be able to win more confidence from dealers who put their trust in us.
Within this more structured relationship it might even be possible to have a "voice" or at least  some influence in the process of the making of pianos.

So, I am not just trying to be arrogant and venture some negative story, but instead, try to explain that it might be possible that we, techs on the "front line" have something to say.. and especially as a group.
I am aware that, of course, this letter *could* again be interpreted wrongly.
For that reason I say:  Try to understand that I have only a positive intention..I do not want to cause a new uproar on the list. (so please..show some consideration, it is not always necessary to immediately show the fangs and attack ..a calm and positive discussion is much better for our health and costs less).

My final thought on this issue is:

"Quality" has its price..... 
and.. 
I do not like to work on cheaply made instruments.

And who could have anything against that?



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