voicing on M&H back

[pianoman]

Dear Greg and All,
All I am saying is that "I" could not improve every piano that comes off
the line.  Is that coming off like I am arrogant or something?
  Maybe others can, but I can't.
 James Grebe
R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth
pianoman@inlink.com
"I'm on my way towards the mighty light of knowledge".

----------
> From: Greg Torres <Tunapiana@adisfwb.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re: voicing on M&H
> Date: Sunday, March 01, 1998 1:37 PM
> 
> James,
> 
> While I agree with many of your posts I have to disagree on this one
regarding voicing. I
> will first say here that while I don't have the expertise in this area
that some on this
> list obviously do I have had experiences similar to the incident
described in the earlier
> post regarding voicing a new piano. It is my opinion that any instrument
from the factory
> could be "tweaked" by proper voicing. If the artist/pianist feels the
need for something
> which is lacking regarding the tone if it can be improved to that persons
satisfaction then
> why not? I don't feel that a piano that has come from the factory always
sounds the best.
> Any piano's tone in most cases can benefit from the needles or hardener
of one who really
> knows what they are doing.
> 
> I had a customer with a Steinway B, circa '20s, all original and the
hammers were worn
> almost flat and lacquered as hard as rocks. But he insisted that he loved
the tone. I
> re-strung and put a new set of renner hammers and had to use a lot of
hardener to achieve
> the tone he was used to, and I personally hated doing it because the tone
it had before the
> hardener to me was the "Steinway" sound I liked.
> 
> Bottom line-just like HT's if the customer wants a particular sound and
it can be had and
> they are willing to pay for it then go ahead if you are able...My goal
always is to make
> the customer happy. If someone else screwed it up that's ok too because
then you have the
> chance to prove that there really are good tench's and you are one of
them.
> 
> Regards,
> Greg Torres
> 
> pianoman wrote:
> 
> >         My earlier post asked the question, "Why would anyone want to 
re-voice a
> > new Mason & Hamlin A".
> >         I figure that on the fine;  no, probably almost all new pianos
are never
> > going to sound, play, look, or act better than when they leave the
factory
> > and are prepped and tuned in the showroom.  These people at the factory
do
> > the same job, (voicing, regulation,etc.) all day every day.  I could
not
> > think that I could ever compete with their expertise doing what I do
only
> > fairly regularly as compared to all day every day.
> >                 When a client asks me about buying a piano I always
recommend that they
> > go to the showroom and play all of the models and pick the one they
like
> > best and tell the salesman that it is the one they want and proceed to
> > write down the serial number to make sure.  Forget about wheeling and
> > dealing, the one they want is the one they picked out, not one from the
> > warehouse.
> >          It is somewhat akin to picking a mate.  In my case, I knew I
wanted a
> > woman for my wife but certainly any woman is not the same as THE woman.
 Do
> > not be swayed by remarks like, "Oh, we can voice it to suit you after
> > delivery."  POPPYCOCK.  Why would you want to revoice another piano to
> > match the one you picked out in the first place.  Carefully choose one
with
> > all the perameters you are looking for and get the same one you chose.
> >          Sorry to be so passionate.
> > James Grebe
> > R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth
> > pianoman@inlink.com
> > "I'm on my way towards the mighty light of knowledge".
> 
>