Suzuki Pianos -- Anyone?

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

Bruce,
These are cheap pianos which are sold in the shipping crate they came 
from China in.  The parts are loosely assembled.  Figure at least 20 
hours labor to go through the all the action at least three times to 
get it working properly.  Insist on the customer opening the crate at 
least two days (if it wasn't set up on its legs) before you come to 
acclimate.  Plan on easing keys and working on a lot of tight action centers.

OK beginner pianos when compared to the century old pianer that is 
falling apart in the corner.  These are essentially priced as 
unprepped pianos and the customer has to plan on paying the 
technician the going rate ~$1500.00+ to turn them into a working 
"instrument".  If the customer is willing to think longevity, quality 
etc. they would be far better off buying a better piano.  The new 
Petrofs offer great bang for the buck (but may need more prep then 
the dealer does to be as steller as they can be).

I've been called in to tune a totally unprepped Steinway B by a proud 
owner.  When I tried to play it after tuning I stopped.  Told the 
owner it need a complete regulation to make it playable (everything 
was wrong with it, had to fix some dampers so I could tune).  The 
owner was flabbergasted.  The salesperson told them they were buying 
the best piano on the market and he never called me back.  I pity the 
poor kids trying to learn how to play piano on that dead Mack 
truck.  Not too many factories prepping their own pianos these days.

Andrew Anderson

At 02:05 PM 11/7/2006, you wrote:
>I ran across an ad for Suzuki pianos some time ago.  I noticed 
>recently that they are being sold by Costco.
>
>Does anyone have any experience with these instruments??  Can you 
>provide some insight regarding their overall quality, tone, etc?
>
>Do we know anything about who's making them?  And, thru what process??
>
>My experience with Costco is that they usually try to offer a 
>"little better" product.  But, this is the first time I've ever seen 
>full-size grand pianos available thru such a mass-marketing system.
>
>Curious .....
>
>
>-bruce
>
>Bruce D. Rempe
>LaPorte City, IA
>

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