List, Ed, David,
I "lurk", more than participate, and hardly ever actually assist.
BUT...... this subject has been around for awhile and I'm gonna waste a bit
of bandwidth with this reply."Perspective" is probably the only good
reason, so many of you may wish to delete, now.
At 12:58 PM 11/27/98 -0500, David responded to Ed Foote's query:
" and I for one, would like to hear the pros and cons from a pro."
>Ed,
>I was recently asked for my comments by the my music department faculty about
>the piano situation in general in the department. Since they were invoved in
>a loan program from a local dealer, I felt compelled to comment:
>"......While the idea of having a brand new piano at your disposal each
>academic year may
>sound like a terrific idea, it does, however, have some drawbacks.
David, your comments start in quotes, so I'm assuming what you're posting
is a copy of a memo or letter to the music faculty. Correct? Not important,
really. I think. You continue:
> These
>pianos usually
>arrive right out of the box without the initial prepping all new pianos
>require. Pitch is
>often dramatically off from A440, requiring several tunings to stabilize.
>Mechanical
>adjustments are needed as well. It is then necessary to tune these new
pianos
>more
>frequently because new pianos take several years to settle due to string
>stretch and the
>wood moisture content stabilization process.
As this is between you and your faculty, I guess you're talking about the
loaner pianos that arrive at your school, and their relative condition and
"drawbacks". We're all adults on this list (to a degree, at least, in my
case)..... so.... what manufacturer are you(the school) dealing with? Most
of the builders have some kind of program.... they've all been chatted
about at one time or another on the lists. Dealers are in the middle in the
vast majority of cases. The short of it is that the dealer is responsible
for the condition of the pianos when they are placed, and the school
shouldn't have any more responsibility for maintenance than their regular
service. Extra care for the cabinet is not un-reasonable, but the dealer
should take the steps needed to protect the box when possible.
> Most manufacturers advise four
>tunings the
>first year to accomplish this. Presently, I am tuning them only twice a year
>or as
>requested.
So...... doing the math (kachinka-kachinka), the dealer should provide two
extra tunings? And mechanical prep, of course. Maybe. Or maybe when the
pianos got there for the sale they were quick-tuned once. Or maybe they
arrive on a different shipment, or piece-by-piece. Or from other sales. Or
schools. Who knows? Sometimes the dealer may not be sure, or have much of a
voice in the matter. It varies a lot with different programs, regions, and
competition.
I'll skip ahead, for now, but remind me to come back to this, O.K.?
>I don't know what the actual motivation for this program is.
Whew! Really? Why not? With ALL due respect, sir. <g> $$$$"to sell
pianos"$$$$, of course! Well, at least, that makes sense, doesn't it?
But.... wait a minute. What else COULD it be? Uh,..... let's see.... the
school gets to use some new pianos. Unless they already have nothing but
new or very good condition pianos, this is a good thing, right? Or maybe
they have a bunch of tired-but-great nice older pianos and the
manufacturer/dealer for the loaner program is placing un-prepped
entry-level stuff there. THAT would be a pain. Boy! That would tick you off
and make it hard to find any benefit. So...
"1) Use of new pianos " is not necessarily a good thing. Somewhere.
Let's think up motivation #2..... can it benefit the institution?
> Is it financially advantageous to the department in some way?
Hey! That's an easy one! Some dealers just take a portion of the proceeds
from the annual sale and donate them back to the institution. Simple.
Painless. Good PR and releases endorphins and helps out and makes sense
and..... well... you see. Motivation #2 is a done deal, if the deal is
done. (between the school and the dealer)
> I'm sure it is for the provider of these pianos, as it allows a reason
for having a private piano sale on campus to sell these lightly used pianos.>
For the manufacturer, as provider of the pianos, SURE it's "financially
advantageous" I think. Well, normally, at least. I mean, all they (the
mfg.) have to do is build the stuff on which you derive your lively hood,
develop the dealer network, finance the construction and distribution of
millions of dollars of inventory, bypass (or absorb) interest income on
huge chunks of inventory for at least two semesters, provide factory
representation for a long weekend, provide warranty support,..... and.....
Yeah. If that's all they have to do, then they're bound to find it
financially advantageous. Most of the time, I'm sure it is. Keeps some of
the builders in the biz, I imagine. Can we call it Motivation #3 ? Why not.
Some of the other things that might be considered as "Motivations" can be
down-graded to "side effects" or "serendipity". I mean, really. How could
the dealer ever anticipate that the nature of the program was such that it
might hit an entirely different audience of prospects? The fact that the
5-10-20-100? new pianos that he sells at the campus sale event are going
into the homes of families with NEW music students hits home only AFTER the
event.
...........pause and think........... 50 new start-ups....... every
year........ from this program......
Talk about "touching the future".
>But is it good for the students, faculty or the music in the long run?
Well....... good question. I took a break for a little work and a little
lunch, so my answer might even be lucid and rational. Or not. :^)
Let's see..... for the students? Sure, if the loaner pianos are up to
rate(speed, par,whatever).
......for the faculty? Yup, if they're using them (the loaners) or even if
having the loaners lets faculty people use better pianos in their offices,
or teaching studio(if not the same), or having students that have access to
better pianos means that the students have better tone and control, etc. Of
course, ONLY if the pianos are up to rate.
.....or the music? ....uh.... itself or the department? Either way, with
previous answers in mind, I'd have to say "yes". On the cosmic end of the
scale, as to whether or not it's (the program) good for the music, we could
go far towards discussions about "old mellow-toned" pianos compared to
todays breaking-glass volume machines, and such, but I don't think that's
what your department people were thinking about when they asked for your
input. It kinda boils down to if the loaner pianos are good enough, doesn't
it? (from the department of redundancy department)
> I think not." >>>>>>end quotes<<<<<<
Face-to-face would be SO much better, now, David, because you could see my
sincere smile when I said:
"Really? You don't think so? Maybe you could think about it some more?
(smile smile) Some how I feel like you're missing something, or have been
given a bad taste by some sales-types or manufacturers reps. Or have been
stuck with some entry-level un-prepped PSOs."
Yep, that's what I might say. 'Cause respectfully, sir, I believe you're
wrong. Which is not a big deal, by any means. The PROBLEM is that you
offered up your opinion to your faculty. From your original statement, I
assume that your quoted comments about the loaner program were just part of
a statement about the " piano situation in general in the department".
True? Don't we all find that "testimonial" statements (advertising,
promotion) are the most powerful? A good referral impacts two or three, a
bad one will be heard by fifteen. That's almost a natural law.
As technicians, and teachers, and performers, we have an awesome
responsibility. When we're asked to venture an opinion, we are wielding a
heckuva lot of power. Care should be given, don't you think? From the
technical side of the institutional pianos, faculty and students are
usually kinda "pliable", and sometimes downright gullible. Who hasn't
walked into a house (school, church) to see the "wondrous" new/used
piece-a-junk piano that was purchased solely on the say-so of Aunt
Matilda's retired underwater basket-weaving teacher that used to be engaged
to a guy who's brother was a teaching assistant for the elementary
kinder-music lady. SHE said that the Betsy Ross was the best choice,
because the finish sweetened the tone so much. You know. Sometimes it
really sucks. That's why it's such a serious thing for us to watch what we
say to people like.... musicians.
To present faculty with some kind of memo, or letter, that states "I think
not" about the benefit of a loaner program is ....uh.... well. Let me
think. It's not good for the industry, that's for sure. And I guess that
would make it not good for the people who benefit from the industry (like
you and me). AND..... ultimately you would have to agree that it would make
it bad for the school-students-faculty etc.
In the stinkin' desert, we call that "shooting yourself in the foot".
Of course, it all comes back to how good the loaners are, doesn't it?
SO... with that in mind, and to keep this post from stretching further,
I've got a truly serious suggestion:
Get with the faculty and look over the agreement with the dealer/mfg. It
should be in writing, and the level of prep should be outlined. If the
loaners were nice pianos, well prepped, it would be pretty hard to deny the
benefits, no?
>I really had a hard time finding the pros.
Searched hard, did you? ;^)
> I suppose if a music dept. had really wretched pianos to start with and
no funds to repair or purchase new ones, then maybe it would make sense.
Wow, man. Deja Vu ! <g>
Now, back to the paragraph above dealing with prep and sourcing..... I'll
relate a couple of cases:
There's a branch of NMSU up in the mountains that gets loaners from K.K.
The dealership involved is from Arizona, and is huge. Handles K.K., BPO,
and a few others. This dealership put un-prepped fake studios (you know,
the console with the little chicken house on top?) in some of the offices,
and a couple of un-prepped RX grands in the minor recital spaces. What a
pain! The verticals are almost un-tunable the first three or four times,
and the grands aren't anywhere NEAR "performance ready"! I don't mind being
under-bid for that job this year! It was sad. The old 243's and two old
SD's are much nicer pianos. SO.... maybe the school's not really getting
such a good deal, eh? 'Course, they don't bother with buying extra tunings,
and when I bitched at Don M. about the situation, he "referred" me to the
sales department. Right. They think all these problems are "features". Oh
well. It's a small department, and the dealer won't really suffer if his
representation in this town is by sub-standard instruments.
Here in Las Cruces, my dealership loans BPO's to the main campus of NMSU.
We don't always have a chance to do two extra tunings before installation,
but we do the other prep and tune as needed. Over the past four years we
can point to bunches of NEW students that have started because their
parents participated in the sale. We have given back to the department with
cash AND instruments. AND...... I know that the pianos we supply are far
superior to the units they displace. The displaced units, by the way, wind
up expanding both faculty and student access to pianos. Some of ours are in
offices, and some in performance.
The school wins. The consumers win. We win. BPO does alright.
It's not rocket science.
List, Ed, David,
With all due respect, if you have concerns over ANY part of the loaner
program that you have experience with, you need to take it up with the
dealer and the mfg. Period. Like lots of stuff, it's not the program "idea"
that's at fault. It's the execution.
Participate and improve.
Don't be "down" on something you're not "up" on.
Thanks for you indulgence, if you survived this far.
Regards,
Guy Nichols, RPT
>
An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery,
which are due to contact with material senses. Such pleasures have a
beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.
Bhagavad Gita (c.
B.C. 400)
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