Who needs,,,,,,,,,,

[Farrell]

"Being hand-made they are all different in some way and like people, some
have more potential than others..."

Yea, like potential for verdigris, Teflon bushings, and collapsed
soundboards.

This sounds like marketing trash to me. I think it would be much more
accurate to say "Some come out good, some are so-so, and some have
problems." Oh, and don't they all have different "personalities"?

Sorry for sounding so crass, but Rolls Royce? But then, actually, the Rolls
analogy works. Buy yourself a new Steinway for the raw chassis. Then you
ship it to your rebuilder to make a piano out of it. However, it would be
much cheaper and better if you just bought an old junk one and had it
rebuilt - then, at least you would get a Steinway plate!

And what's this marketing crud about "If your Steinway is not 100% Steinway
parts, it's not a Steinway." Is that by weight? Or is it by individual
parts? Any rebuilt pre-1950 Steinway with Abel hammers, and Renner action
parts, and Sanderson Strings, Bolduc pinblock, Gravagne  soundboard, custom
bridges, etc. is more Steinway by weight than a new Steinway because they at
least have a Steinway plate!

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Musselwhite" <john@musselwhite.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2001 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: Who needs,,,,,,,,,,


> At 09:33 PM 1/11/2001 -0700, Kevin R. wrote:
>
> >I agree, they are indeed wonderful instruments, but why are they so in
need
> >of "finishing?"
>
> Donning my flamesuit as I wax philosophical, I can think of several
> reasons. When I refer to "finishing" I mean voicing in particular as well
> as regulating and polishing of the case. The hammers usually come soft for
> a reason.
>
> 1) If they finished the piano properly then customizing it for the
> purchaser again afterwards could be more difficult and would be a waste of
> time, effort and money. The dealer's technician is expected to do the last
> bits for the purchaser.
> 2) The pianos are sent from a very old and traditional factory in New York
> City. If they finished them there, by the time they got to the dealer's
> floor in Albuquerque they'd have to be finished again anyway due to
climate
> changes.
> 3) The final purchaser gets more of the feeling that they've bought
> something that can be set up "just for them" rather than to the lowest
> common denominator, which is "factory specifications".
>
> In the old days and to some extent now, when the wealthy bought a Rolls
> Royce, they bought a raw chassis and had it finished for their tastes.
When
> they wanted a mansion they built a new one so it would be "theirs". If
they
> wanted a suit of clothes they had it custom tailored rather than buying
one
> off the rack. Even if they wanted their own writing instrument they'd pay
> thousands of dollars for a Waterman fountain pen that adapts to their own
> particular writing style rather than just a Cross.
>
> In some respects the Steinway piano is like that. The factory does all the
> work necessary (hopefully!) to supply us with a "raw" piano that can then
> be customized to the owner's needs. Being hand-made they are all different
> in some way and like people, some have more potential than others and the
> potential in some instruments is never realized at all. People who are
used
> to something working properly "right out of the box" are bound to be
> disappointed with them that way and if I may say so, they should stick
with
> the select hardwood-rimmed Asian pianos, expecting to replace them when
> they lose their precision just like they do their used cars.
>
> At best this means that Steinway has given us durable, traditional and
> fairly "standard" pianos that will remain in extreme service (or pampered
> luxury) and retain their value for a great many years, often outliving
> their original owners before they require rebuilding. At worst it means
> that the company has supplied and is supplying current and future
> rebuilders with viable carcasses that they can turn into magnificent
> instruments once again.  Either way, piano technicians come out ahead as
> do, hopefully, the owners. The only loser is the factory, actually.
>
> I hope that answers the question. If not, the short version is that they
> are hand-built instruments constructed mostly after a traditional fashion
> using traditional materials and they're all a little bit different. To the
> technician and to some extent the owner, it means that in a new piano
*you*
> have control over the growth of the last bit of the piano's potential
> rather than it being realized in a modern computer controlled factory
> somewhere just like the last one that rolled off the assembly line. That
> should be a *good* thing, not something to complain about.
>
>                          John
>
> John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
> http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
> email: john@musselwhite.com    http://www.mp3.com/fatbottom
>
>