voicing on M&H back

[Gregory Torres]

Dear James,

You wrote "Is that coming off like I am arrogant or something?"

No. Not arrogant, but it did sort of sound like you meant that any "fine" piano
should be left alone. I simply said I disagree with that thought. And I
admitted up front that I am not as experienced in  voicing as some on this
list. I was just trying to say that any piano can be tweaked somewhat.

I hope my post didn't come across negatively towards you or anyone else. Please
accept my apologies.

Sincerely,
Greg Torres

pianoman wrote:

> 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".
> >
> >