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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: 9-foot Estonia</TITLE>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>I've played a new Estonia concert grand at =
NAMM, as well
as the newest Bos. concert (bentwood rim, 88 notes). I don't =
service
either, so can't speak to longetivity. Under Soviet control, =
Estonia made
only concert grands. There are over 7,000 of them in Eastern =
Europe and
the former Soviet Union. Most of them are pretty bad. Under =
Indrek
Laul Estonia introduced a full line of grand pianos with many =
design and
construction improvements. Don't judge today's Estonias by the =
ones they
made 10 years ago. My opinion is that, at their price, they are a =
very
good value. There are certainly a number of better new pianos =
available
today, but they're much more expensive.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The Bos. I played had what was may have been the =
most
brilliant tone that I've ever heard. It was a beautiful piano, but =
I found
it hard to play for that reason. I would be inclined to tone it =
down quite
a bit, but that doesn't seem to be what they're aiming for at the
factory.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>If price were no object, I'd look at the new =
Bechstein Mod.
D</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Bob Hohf, RPT<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
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<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ZahringerK@missouri.edu =
href="mailto:ZahringerK@missouri.edu">Ken,
Zahringer</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> Friday, November 19, 2004 =
5:15
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [CAUT] Re: 9-foot =
Estonia</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=Garamond><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">I =
was
hesitant to say so before, but we have a 9’ Bose Imperial =
(96-note scale)
here, in a 150-seat recital hall. Most of the piano faculty love =
it, but
I agree with Wim’s assessment. It is not a powerful piano. =
I
wouldn’t recommend it for any venue larger than what we have =
here.
In fact, I’m not particularly impressed with it =
overall. A
slightly used CFIII, or a well rebuilt Steinway or Mason & Hamlin =
would be
a much better choice.<BR><BR>Ken Z.<BR><BR>-- <BR>Ken Zahringer, =
RPT<BR>Piano
Technician<BR>University of Missouri School of Music<BR>297 Fine Arts
Bldg<BR>Columbia, MO 65211<BR>573-882-1202<BR>cell
573-489-7529<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></SPAN></FONT></BODY></HTML>