small vs large grands

[V T]

Hi Don,

Yes, of course a good grand action plays better, and
some buyers of entry level instruments may be making a
choice based on that.  I do however think that the
very small grands are more often than not purchased as
decorative objects.

Sometimes I notice advertisments for used pianos that
mention the phrase "vertical grand".  I have no idea
who the marketing genius was who actually managed to
get that silly name out, but the fact that the phrase
survived tells me that the public isn't terribly
critical.  Obviously, something about the word "grand"
attracts the buyers.

It always reminds me of restaurant menus of the 1970s.
 Everything was "petit".  Petit salad, petit steak,
petit desert, big bill.  You could actually tell
people in advance that they will get a miniature meal
and they loved it because it had a foreign word in it!

As to string length, I found this:

Baldwin Model 248 - 48" height
No. 1 Speaking length: 50 inch

Vladan

=============================
Don wrote:

Hi Vladan,

Uprights just don't repeat in the same way as a well
regulated grand. I
don't think it has anything to do with adversion to
looks. 

Rumor has it that 121 cm uprights have equivalent
length strings to a 185
cm grand. Is this true?



		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 
http://mail.yahoo.com