<div> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi Martin.   I have 40 pianos at my All Steinway School.   21 are new Boston 118's,  and the balance is mostly Steinway grands.  We also have 3 non-Steinway pianos, and 3 harpsichords.   The existing pianos (Everett uprights, Baldwin SD, etc) were traded in to the local Steinway store.  The Chair of the music dept is a very big Steinway fan, and the Chair of Piano studies is a Steinway artist.  I've only had one facilty complaint thus far about the Bostons.   The Boston 118's had pedal trap squeaks almost right away.  I've taken to lubing the trap work at every tuning, and recently the damper rod/damper lever in the bass is squeaking on some as well.   Nothing worse for me and the player than pedal noises.  3 benches have broken at the bracket groove.  Recently, someone has been lifting the locked lids, which is easy to do - the locks are merely cosmetic and will fail under modest pressure.   On the positive, I find the 118's very quick and easy to tune.   40 min max for most.   Tone and touch are above average. <br> <br> The service requirements are very good.  (this is the best part of the All Steinway program, IMHO) Grands are tuned every month, and the 118's are tuned every 3 months.   This schedule allows me to occasionally substitute a touch up for a tuning,  and use the balance of time to do some regulation, repair, etc.  60% of my pianos are less than 2 years old, and 35% are less than 15 years old.  I'm lucky in that respect. <br> <br> As to restrictions on further purchases, Steinway required a certain percentage of total pianos be Steinway products, so I would expect that percentage is expected to be retained in the mix of future purchases.    Given my experience, I'd recommend the All Steinway Program.  It's good for the school, the students, the teachers, and the Technicians.  <br> <br> Bob Maret<br> </font></div> <div> <br> </div> <div> <br> </div> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Martin Snow <martinsnowpianos@yahoo.com><br> To: caut@ptg.org<br> Sent: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 10:00 pm<br> Subject: [CAUT] becoming an all Steinway School<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_0_4fd2938d-c946-41ba-8016-7abb2c745d1c" style="margin: 0px; font-family: Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Sans-Serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>hi folks<br> I'd be interested to hear experiences from those<br> techs. working at schools that have become ''All<br> Steinway''. Is it very restrictive on the purchase<br> choice of instruments. What happened to existing<br> inventory. Was administration and faculty won over by<br> becoming ''All Steinway''. How are the Boston pianos<br> holding up etc etc..........</tt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> </font><tt><br> <br> ____________________________________________________________________________________<br> Be a better friend, newshound, and <br> know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. <a href="http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ" target="_blank">http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ</a> <br> <br> <br> </tt></pre> </div>  <div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top:10px;" /> More new features than ever. Check out the new <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div>