Joe Garret said: Why don't you charge double for Chinese POSs like I do for Square Grands. If you have to be subjected to those attrocities, then you should be duly compensated, IMHO. (BTW, I refused to tune or work on any Chinese Pianos. They are far worse than the worst Overdamper piano!) Perhaps if we all did that, then perhaps people would stop buying those pieces of crap..labeled as "Entry Level Pianos" What the hell is that? Hopefully, some of the dealers and reps that lurk, will get the idea! Happy, (?), Monday JOE Joe. When's the last time you tuned a Chinese piano? For that matter, how do you know a piano was made in China? Some of the better known Japanese pianos, and quite a few other brands that used to be made else where, are now being manufactured in China. There are some nice pianos coming out of China. Not top of the line, but very acceptable. No worse than some of the American crap that came out of Memphis or South Carolina. Or do you charge double for those, too? Do you charge double for Yamaha and Kawai pianos made prior to 1960? What about Samick and Young Chang pianos made in the 70's? The piano industry has always made "entry level" piano. Back in the late 1800 and early 1900, piano manufacturers looked for ways to make piano cheaper. They did this by opening up factories away from the big Easter cities. When those pianos first came out, they weren't the very good, either. We're actually still tuning those, by the way. After WWII, manufacturers looked again for cheaper labor and land. First they went to places like French Lick, IN, and North Carolina. Then to Japan. You remember working on 1960's vintage Yamaha's and Kawai's, Joe. They were a joke. Then piano manufacturing went to Korea, and later to China, Indonesia, etc. At first, these piano were terrible, but over time, they got better and better. The same with the Chinese pianos. But lately, they have also gotten better and better. Next time someone calls you to tune their Nordiska, Hailun, or Pearl River, give them a try. And remember, the $100 you make tuning one of them will allow you to buy the same number of packages of cigarettes as the $100 you get for tuning that Baldwin L. And it might even be easier to do. WIm Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician 94-505 Kealakaa Str. Mililani, Oahu, HI 96789 808-349-2943 www.Bleespiano.com Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091102/11fa90a9/attachment.htm>
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