Quality in Pianos -- again

[Richard Brekne]

Del you ask make a lot of good points below... But the key question is again..
(as you phrased it this time) "On what do we judge quality ?"

I would agree that "how" something is accomplished is much less important then
the "result". But to answer, from my own point of view,  this question more
specifically I would say this:

First and formost I look for very solid and very presice workmanship. Put
another way... a sloppy installed pinblock is just that, and a well worked
perfect fit is also just that. This difference is obvious and very easily
quantifiable. Manufacturers that consistently show me lots of slopp just loose
lots of points in my "ratings book". I have little respect for such. Those that
consistently show me lots of precision, attention to detail, gain points.

Secondly I look for longevity and stability concerns. How long does a piano hold
up ? Will it go drastically out of tune at the first sign of rain? (trightly
put, but you get my meaning). Is the action overly sensitive to climatic
changes? How about how it stands up to hard use? To no small degree this is
affected by the workmanship criteria, but also to the selection of materials
used in assembly.

Thirdly I look for sound quality. This is much more difficult to judge, yet if
one turns the coin upside down and look at what is simply unacceptable sound
instead of what is acceptable (or even "good") sound then some headway is
possible enough. Sound projection over distance also is a concern in this
regard.

Lastly I look for combinations of these three. The best pianos contain the best
possible charachteristics of all of these things.


When recommending a piano then I try and look at how its to be used. If its a
new beginner then I think that the most important point is that the piano is
stable, and dependable.(which generally also means that it is pretty well built
to begin with)  Sound concerns are of much less importance here (grin within
reason) as one needs to achieve some level of proficiency before one is able to
begin to exploit sound characteristics anyways. Sound should be clean to be
sure.. but above and beyond that... nahhh.. not for beginners.

If a piano is to be used by demanding players with high levels of ability then
we are in a whole different ball park and I have to look very closely before I
would recommend anything but a piano that scores high on the above criteria.

Design issues? Well again this is harder to quantify and gets back into "how"
one accomplishes a thing as much as anything else. And in the end, as long as a
piano meets these aformentioned criteria, then the design must be pretty good in
any case, or it simply wouldnt be able to do so.

One thing that caught my eye below was your preference for sand cast plates. I
am curious to know why you prefer these.



Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

> While Hans Sanders -- see his separate post of 4/4/00 -- has a point in that
> there are few truly 'hand made' pianos around there are certainly
> differences of manufacturing scale.  I wonder, though, what difference does
> it all make?  On what do we judge 'quality?'  Is quality based on the number
> of pianos a given manufacturer produces in any given year?  What difference
> does that make to piano performance?  To its longevity?  Is a nice tight
> fitting joint any better because it is made by a workman with a chisel and
> mallet instead of a CNC router?  I would have to say no.  Unless, of course,
> some part of a more desirable overall design had to be altered to
> accommodate the CNC router and that alteration itself affected the
> performance of the finished product.  Which situation obviously has happened
> from time to time.  But, then, when hasn't the requirements of production
> taken precedence over performance?
>
> What about those differences between mass-produced and, shall we say,
> less-mass-produced pianos mentioned by Greg?
>
> As most of you know, I am partial to maple (or some comparable hardwood)
> belly bracing.  Yet Steinway, Bosendorfer and more than a few others have
> used spruce or fir or some similar softwood bracing for better than a
> century now.  Does that fact make these pianos inferior in some way?
>
> I am also partial to green sand cast plates.  Yet plates cast using the
> vacuum process fulfill all of the requirements of excellent piano plates.
>
> Rims?  Yes, here there is certainly a performance difference in the material
> used.  But surely ways could be figured out to use maple (or some comparable
> hardwood) to bend rims in mass production.  And in all probability rims made
> of 'select hardwood' could be designed to perform better if the builders
> thought it important enough.
>
> Is it the quantity of production that matters?  Or the performance of the
> finished product.  Is it the materials used?  Or how those materials are put
> together to form a unified whole.  Is it the aesthetic of that flawless
> soundboard?  If so, then what about all those wonderful pianos of a century
> or so back that would have to be thrown away today because of the builders
> choice of 'inferior' soundboard wood -- it simply wouldn't be good enough
> for today's more 'discriminating' buyer.  Or should it be the performance of
> that soundboard that matters?  Where does the design enter the picture?  Or
> should it not be part of the equation at all?
>
> Has anyone else noticed that increasingly piano sellers -- be they sellers
> of new or rebuilt pianos-- seem to be selling appearance, detailing,
> materials and features.  These are the things that speak of 'quality.'  When
> you pin these folks down they will, of course, assure you that their pianos
> sound just wonderful.  But if so, why isn't that what they sell?  Why does
> all this other stuff take such overwhelming precedence?  And then along
> comes a piano like the Petrof which, by what I've been reading on pianotech,
> still has a somewhat less than desirable reputation for 'quality' -- yet
> folks are buying them because 'they sound good.'
>
> Or is all of this just my imagination.
>
> Del

--
Richard Brekne
Associate PTG, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway