<< The local Steinway dealer says that the first step is for him to come
down for 2-3 days and do a total inventory assessment. Will spending
this time building their data base be beneficial? Or will we be
wasting the Porsche salesman's time. >>
I would think he has lots of time to cherry pick school inventories for
"trade-ins" on newer pianos. Trade in old Steinways for new Bostons...
The school should consider rebuilding all their old pianos, not trading them
in. The bean counters need to see the value. This takes a very coherent
presentation by the 'contractor', (that would be the school's tech) to let them
know there is an organized approach to the whole inventory.
One attractive thing the pitch for an "All" school has is that the
administrator is given a fixed target, and set expenses. This is easier to digest
than the vague 5 and 10 year plans with the felt wearing at X rate, restrings
whenever things begin to break, etc. that so many of us seem to have. I have
never been overly organized, making up for in obsessive behaviour. We got
Steinways in virtually all the teacher's studios, most vocal, and all
performance. I have been with them for 31 years and it has been far less expensive to
rebuild and maintain than replace.
I just found the invoice for an action replacement I did in one of the
pianos in 1988. It cost them $1,500. That piano has been in solid use ever
since, and is in need only of a hammer filing and a regulation, to be up to
playing anything in the literature. Sure, the key bushings are looser than I
like, and there is a bit of noise, but it is still capable of playing at any
level, and the teacher with it just loves it.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
<BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new
twists on family favorites at AOL Food.<BR>
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)</HTML>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC