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<DIV>Jim,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now that's what I would call a real prep job. I think you and Vince are
needed at Steinway.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards, Ted Sambell</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jim_busby@byu.edu href="mailto:jim_busby@byu.edu">Jim Busby</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 15, 2007 6:31
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [CAUT] New Upright
Pianos</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ted,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">If anyone can say
this with authority, you can. Good post. FYI <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Vince
Mrykalo</st1:PersonName> and I took a 1098 (c.1954) here at BYU removed
the ”bump” at the top, moved the bass bridge, rescaled using Pure Sound
stainless wire and did a couple other things to it. Now it sounds and tunes
like a good piano. False beats went away, as well as the tuning nonsense that
technicians often complain about. I’d not hesitate to do this to any and all
older 1098s.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Highest
regards,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Jim Busby
BYU<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] <B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </SPAN></B>Ted Sambell<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Wednesday, February 14, 2007 1:43
PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">College and University Technicians</st1:PersonName><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: [CAUT] New Upright
Pianos</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Barbara, I would urge you on no account to recommend
Sreinway 1098's; they are simply bad pianos. Back in 1970 the university I
worked for underwent rapid expansion of their faculty of music and purchased a
number of these, principally for the offices of non performance professors,
such as musicologists, composers, and historians, whose demands for a piano
were fairly low, and in fact were not necessarily pianists at all. Aside from
poor tone and excessive false beats, and generally mediocre
workmanship the touch quality was slow and stodgy feeling. But far more
serious was that EVERY ONE of them had the pinblock in the bass separate.Other
technicians I knew had similar experiences Admittedly, I am sure that this
design flaw has been corrected in more recent years. But the few I have seen
since then have been less than impressive. One had action geometry problems
which resulted in sticking keys, despite all the centers and key
bushings being free. I was able to correct this, but why did it get out of the
factory like this in the first place?And I don't know if they still do this,
but the fallboards were held in by screws from underneath the keybeds, which
simply defies commonsense. I have seen the recent K's, and find them anything
but impressive. They are not really reproductions of the old K's, which
were truly noble instruments (despte their quirky actions) so much as an
interpretation of them. My feeling about Steinways is that their hearts
are really not in it where uprights are concerned. I have attended many of
their classes, and cannot recollect one mention of uprights. On one occasion I
heard Franz Mohr say he hated them. I know of one horror story of a K
which had sticking key problems, perhaps similar to the one I had worked on,
but the dealer technicians had been unable to correct them. The whole
situation escalated out of hand and ultimately resulted in the customer being
without a piano and still owing the bank $8000. I feel both parties handled
things badly of course. The customer is so angry he has circulated the whole
story on the Internet, and says he will do anything he can to hurt Steinway.
This is very sad. When it comes to choosing practise room pianos, I would very
strongly consider Kawais. I have worked on some which were from ten to thirty
years old, and found them in near mint condition. These had ABS actions, now
superseded by carbon fibre which are even more reliable. I love wooden
actions, but honesty compels me to acknowledge the superior durability and
stability of the Kawai actions.Should the piano endure, it is obvious that
this is where the future lies.If pure beauty of tone is more important, I
would consider some of the fine German makers, especially Bluthner, Pfeiffer,
Sauter, Seiler, Ibach , Steingraber, Fuerich, Schimmel and others.I have
not seen recent examples of Bechstein uprights, only grands, or Hamburg
Steinway uprights so can have no opinion on them.-On the whole, I think that
with few exceptions most pianomakers are not interested in developing the
upright, which actually has more potential as a musical instrument than
appears to be recognized. For instance, Edwin Good is quite properly critical
of the somewhat inferior repetition of the upright action, but recognizs
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Del</st1:place></st1:State> and
Darrell Fandrich's designs and makes the observation that it remains to be
seen if the Fandrich action will become generally accepted. But it goes much
farther; we know that the only valid middle pedal is the sostenuto, yet
there are a minority of uprights with this despite a perfectly reliable
design. Instead we have in general, three useless possibilities for the middle
pedal, viz; the bass damper lift, duplicating the regular soft pedal, and the
so-called 'practice rail'. The latter was likened by Tobias Matthay, a world
renowned music educator, to a 'dog trying to bark with its head in a
sack'. If it is used much, it wears through quickly, and if it doesn't,
which is more often than not, it is worthless. I believe it to be a
vestigial remnant of the supernumary pedal effects from the late 18th. Century
Viennise pianos and has no legitimate place in a piano. If iit did, then it
should be in grands too. Further, the regular soft pedal in an upright merely
messes up the touch quality with an excess of lost motion. A Japanese company,
Toyo successfully made uprights (called the Apollo piano) with una corda they
termed the Slide Shift System. I have also seen this (rarely) on a few old
German uprights. To achieve this , the dampers would need to be mounted
separately from the rest of the action, which in turn would have to be
fastened to the keyframe, which would be installed like that in a grand.This
would also be a boon to us, as the dampers would be much more accessible for
maintenance and repair.Other attempts to improve repetition have been made, in
fact fairly successfully, variants of spring and loops for instance, and the
old Mason and Hamlin screw stringers had a leaf spring riveted to the front of
the jacks which engaged against a felt block on the inside of the catcher. And
to prove I have lost my reason, dare I put in a word for the much maligned
"birdcage'?I am not for a moment suggesting these should be revived, but the
term is insulting. They were the true forerunners of the modern upright action
and are entitled to some respect. The proper mane is 'overdamper actions'. In
fact, they are simple and in the right climatic conditions, very reliable. The
touch quality can be very clean; in my younger days many years ago,
running round <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City> (<st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>) doing five
tunings daily, I might tune four and then an 'underdamper'. This, with its
three springs instead of one as in the overdampers would feel springy and
rubbery in comparison. The Bluthner piano company clung to the overdamper
design long after most makers had abandoned it, perhaps for these very
reasons, and their uprights were magnificant by any criteria. It is not true
that overdampers are more difficult to tune. One simply has to adopt suitable
muting techniques. Their besetting problem is adapting to our climatic
conditions and the fact that only the best built ones damped efficiently.But I
woul like to own one of those Bluthners. Incidentally, they had hammer and
wippen flanges made of brass with adjustble centerpin bushings. These were
blatantly copied from the earlier Erard grands, but were beautifully machined.
They looked like a wood flange, only thinner, and were slit up to the bushing
hole. A tightening screw held the two parts together. I believe the hammer
flanges on the large American square pianos were slit the same way. Well
anyway, these are some of the possibilities which could do much for the
upright, if the will existed to do so. Realistically, I am not hopeful, the
money angle is undeniable. I could go on and on, but have tried everyone's
patince enough, I am sure.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">My best to all, Ted
Sambell<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">- Original Message -----
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN: 5pt 0in 5pt 3.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: black 1.5pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
<DIV style="font-color: black">
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4"><B><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <A
title=tune4@earthlink.net href="mailto:tune4@earthlink.net">Paul Chick
(Earthlink)</A> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">To:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <A
title=caut@ptg.org href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">'College and University
Technicians'</A> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Sent:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 9:58 PM<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Subject:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> Re:
[CAUT] New Upright Pianos<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Subject:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Re:
[CAUT] New Upright Pianos</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">On Feb 10, 2007, at 9:30 AM, Barbara Richmond
wrote:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Greetings all:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px">
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">While we're on the subject, a friend asked me to
compare Yamaha U-3s with Steinway URs.<SPAN class=apple-converted-space>
</SPAN>Uh, I don't even know what a Steinway UR is, just that I usually try
to avoid Steinway uprights in general (but maybe they've improved
lately!).<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I cut my teeth on Steinway 45s (or 1098s or whatever
they are). Once you learn how to work with them, or at least accept them,
they're much easier to appreciate. But avoiding them simply because you'd
rather tune a Yamaha because it's easier isn't giving the Steinway much of a
chance out of the starting gate. And don't expect it to be like tuning a
Yamaha or a Kawai, or a <st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> or a Walter,
or a <st1:place w:st="on">Baldwin</st1:place>, because any of those, it
isn't. You have to accept the instrument for what it is and work with it.
Yes. Steinway verticals can be aggravating to tune. Some, more so than
others, and especially when they're new. But once you put that front board
back on, take off your technician's hat and put on your musician's hat, it
is a much different story. All that noise somehow turns into a reliable,
very stable, and pretty decent sounding musical
instrument.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">And I'm sorry, what David Porritt wrote, quoting Ron
N, is just completely off base. The people who own 1098s love them. It
doesn't matter why. They just do. And those people tend to find Yamaha
verticals leave much to be desired. I especially don't get the big hoopla
over the U3. It is very creamy. In fact, all cream. No coffee. No tea. No
peaches. No cookies. Just... ...plain...
...cream.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The argument against the Yamahas (given by the
Steinway dealer) is the Steinways will last a lot longer. These pianos would
be used in a university, but I'm not sure if they are for practice rooms or
studios.<SPAN class=apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Anyway, I think it's hard
to beat Yamaha in consistency and I wonder (and what I would be concerned
about is) what the condition the Steinway hammers are in regarding
lacquering--and then there are those center pin
bushings...<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I can't in good conscience responsibly agree with
much of anything that has been said on this thread. When I look at the P2s
and P202s in my client base and compare them to the 1098/45s from the same
time and even years older, there is no way I could ever come to a sober
conclusion that the Steinway doesn't hold up better over time than the
Yamaha. The same would have to be said for G1's, G2s, G3s, and C3's versus
Steinway S, M and L, even with teflon. Sure, the atoms will all still be
there years from now on both pianos, but give me a practice room beaten 40
year old 1098 over a P2 that's been used a couple hours a week in a church
any day.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Folks, we're talking about mass produced pianos
built for the lower priced market by a company accustomed to its customers
throwing pianos away after 25 or 30 years, versus artist grade instruments
built with superior materials, and built to be rebuilt again and again by a
company that has been building pianos for world class artists since 1854.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Steinway marketing myth my behind. I don't see
people lining up to pay 5 times the original selling price for 35-40 (or 80
to 100) year old Yamaha pianos and then investing more money to get us to
rebuild them. And I definitely don't see how that can be blamed on
Steinway's marketing department. Yamaha's main market niche is for
disposable pianos, and they are priced
accordingly.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I have nothing against the Yamaha product or the
company. But we're not talking about apples and apples here. If we were
talking about Yamaha's artist series instruments, you might have a good
debate. But Yamaha has shot itself in the foot for not marketing them more
diligently. Or perhaps it can't sell them. For Yamaha to make a piano in
Steinway's quality range, they have to charge 30%-40% more. Unless, of
course, you're looking at a used one.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">You've actually got to hand it to Steinway. The
Steinway factory is located in one of the most expensive cities in the
world, with one of the highest costs of living anywhere. And despite labor
unions, and difficult hazardous materials restrictions, they manage to build
a world class piano which sells for a lower cost than any of the Asians can
do it. And it has survived the American economy for over 150 years. That is
no easy feat considering it survived a civil war, two world wars and a dozen
or more year long economic depression that wiped out almost every American
piano manufacturer. I'm tired of hearing them berated the way they
are.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Our customers like Steinway. Performing artists like
Steinway. Our university faculties prefer Steinway. Steinway doesn't have to
loan their pianos for free for a year to get universities to use them, and
they don't have to pay artists for endorsements. This is not Steinway
marketing.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I really don't see how anyone could come to any
different conclusion, unless that someone truly can't appreciate the
difference. Then, I suppose, it doesn't
matter.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Helvetica color=black size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Jeff Tanner,
RPT<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on"><FONT
face=Helvetica color=black size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">University</SPAN></FONT></st1:PlaceType><FONT
face=Helvetica color=black size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"> of
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">South
Carolina</st1:PlaceName></SPAN></FONT></st1:place><FONT face=Helvetica
color=black size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Helvetica color=black size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Helvetica color=navy size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Thanks for your
comments, Jeff. I tune and tech for a local dealer that carries
Steinway, a line of nice Japanese pianos, and a price point Chinese
product. 2%-the Steinway inventory-creates as much attention as the
98%. The attention is not the advertising, prep work, etc. It is
the awe of the consumer walking into the store and up to a world class
instrument whose name does not include “piano.” Just say
“Steinway” to anyone in music. They know it’s a piano.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Paul
C<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>