<html> <body> Ok, I've scanned these posts but I seem to have a little trouble with the line of thought. If it's a brand x and in order to stay a brand x it has to have all brand x parts then shouldn't brand x parts be pre-hung and pre voiced from the factory? Furthermore why is it you have to travel to the megalopolis to select your very own brand x piano since they're all somewhat different. If they are all somewhat different, and they are, what is the one defining thing that makes them a brand x? Seems like you can't have it both ways. Either it's a very special and highly defined and recognized sound and it musn't be tampered with for fear of destroying an identity (then they'd better all be the same from the factory) or there's room for artistry and therefore is somewhat subject to interpretation. Which way do YOU lean seems up to the reader, no? Greg Newell At 12:06 PM 9/20/2007, Jeff Tanner wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">On Sep 19, 2007, at 5:30 PM, David M. Porritt wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> Jeff:   Any manufacturer has their reputation on the line with the products they produce.  If they want to keep them exactly as they built them, they should just lease them rather than sell them.  When I encounter a customer’s piano, I assume they bought it and they will be the one to tell me how they want it voiced, regulated, etc.  How the manufacturer wants it doesn’t enter my mind.  They no longer own it.  Mrs. Customer does.   dp   </blockquote>Dave, With all due respect, I think you may misunderstand what Mrs. Customer believes she owns.  If it says Steinway on the fallboard, she expects it to be as authentically Steinway as possible - that it is not just a replica, but a clone of the instruments the artists play.  She also expects her technician to speak and understand Steinway.  Once it has lost any of that authenticity, she accepts that it is no longer what it once was.  Whether or not we want to admit it, if it is no longer authentic, it loses value in her mind.  If a potential buyer were to learn that it is not authentic, it loses value in his mind as well.  There is indeed more at issue here than our own artistry and pride. Yes, there is a large variance in what is possible with touch weight, response and tone.  But changing the hammers changes the complete character.  It will never be capable of that sound that is authentically Steinway (or Yamaha or whoever).  That is what it loses. And I completely disagree with the assertion that the manufacturer no longer owns it.  They own every patent, every design and every process which has earned the reputation sought by buyers of the name on the fallboard.  That name on the fallboard is definitely their property.  It is the identity on which their future business is built.  If we profit by changing any part of the product wearing that name, well, some industries would consider that fraudulent.  Were you the purchaser of a prescription drug or a food that someone had altered after it was stamped ready for market you would quickly disagree with your philosophy.  If it is discovered that drugs are tampered with after they leave the manufacturer, it is that manufacturer that suffers the losses incurred, even if the perpetrator is caught and put in jail.  Let's say we own a small business which makes paint, but can't afford our own cans and labels to store it in, and so we collect empty paint cans with other manufacturer's names on the can - maybe we make interior paint and put it in an old Sherwin Williams exterior paint can and sell it as Sherwin Williams exterior paint.  We are misrepresenting the product in the can and taking advantage of the established name to profit. The customer thinks he is buying Sherwin Williams exterior paint. It is the same. On Sep 19, 2007, at 8:23 PM, David Love wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> Neither, btw, should you be concerned about manufacturer identity.  No matter what you do, you will not turn a Yamaha into a Steinway or a Steinway into a Yamaha. </blockquote> I'm sorry.  I completely disagree.  My experience is that Mrs. customer was quite concerned about manufacturer identity when she bought her piano.  One may not be able to turn a Yamaha into a Steinway or vice versa, but one can definitely turn it into something that is no longer represented by the name on the fallboard.  It becomes a rebuilt, generic instrument with a false identity.  Something like me claiming to a business degree from Yale, when it is actually from the University of Georgia.  While UGA patterned itself very much after Yale, Yale it is not. I'm just not comfortable wearing that hat. Jeff Tanner, RPT University of South Carolina </blockquote> <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> Greg Newell Greg's Piano Forté <a href="http://www.gregspianoforte.com/" eudora="autourl"> www.gregspianoforte.com </a>216-226-3791 (office) 216-470-8634 (mobile) 2003,04,05 & 06 winners of Angie's List Super Service Award </body> </html>