John: I understand your confusion here. I don't think Steinway makes bad pianos. Most here would agree with that statement. My problem with them - and my tendency to denigrate them inappropriately - is the fact that they are not what they could be, nor what they claim to be. It's natural to claim to be the best. That's fine. The implication we get from their marketing and their representatives (at least the ones I've met) is that they are the "only" piano. I have heard many say that all other instruments are just "commercial junk". That doesn't match my reality. Secondly, Steinway has some wonderful technicians. People who know what a good piano is and what is should be. Still, marketing people dominate the company. If that were not so, you wouldn't hear the "largest sounding board" hype when the technicians know that a sounding board can be too large. We hear of the "longest speaking length of the bass strings" when the technicians know well that it would be better to have a shorter speaking length string with a longer back scale. I have no doubt that Steinway could improve their good pianos. They have the expertise to do that. My irritation at them is not because they make bad pianos and the people who buy them are fools. My irritation is that they could make much better pianos but they choose not to. Theodore Steinway was a brilliant innovator who made more progress in the development of the modern piano than anyone else and he did it quite rapidly. I believe he would turn over in his grave if he saw the developmental stagnation that his successors have maintained. Steinway does not make "bad" pianos, but they have been the leaders of a century of developmental stagnation. End of rant! dave David M. Porritt dporritt@smu.edu -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Bec and John Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 9:22 PM To: Pianotech Subject: Re: Rib crowning & compression failure Hi Ric, > And it is Steinway specifically (curiously enough) and not the CC > board in general that bears the greatest brunt of this affront. If I hadn't ever seen or heard a Steinway piano before joining this list I would have thought they were the worst pianos ever, and not just regarding soundboard issues! I would then have to conclude the pianists who like them are just fools/deceived and know nothing about pianos. I would then question their musical talent/ability. In the end I would have to say that pianists who like Steinways are bad musicians or at least good musicians who somehow don't know enough about what they do to notice they're playing on a bad instrument. :-) - John _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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