Charles Ball/University of Texas at Austin At our school we have several German Steinways. In the past I have been able to obtain action parts directly from Hamburg. Recently I tried to obtain parts for a client's model C German Steinway and discovered that, not only has Steinway prohibited Renner from selling these parts directly, but has also prohibited Hamburg as well. Those of us in the US, according to a letter I received from the Hamburg factory, must obtain parts for our German Steinways through New York. Here's the problem: in 1992 I ordered a set of hammers preglued in Hamburg to the shanks & flanges for a model D through New York. After some time I received the Renner parts, but the hammers had been bored and glued in New York. Remarkably, the New York factory was unaware that the specifications for hammer boring differs between the New York and Hamburg factories (the string heights differ between the same models). After several calls to Michael Mohr and Glorie LeFrac, I returned these parts and much later received shipment of the parts originally requested. The cost was $822.00. These parts from Germany come ready to install, travel, regulate, etc--usually the strike point is very close or exact, and the workmanship is superb. A few weeks ago, after being rebuffed by the Hamburg factory, I called Glorie for a quote for similar parts for a model C and was appalled to get a price of $1664, plus $88.00 shipping from Germany (plus shipping from New York). The quote for a set of shanks & flanges for a German Steinway was $895.00, plus shipping!! The same Renner parts with a slightly different knuckle placement for the American pianos cost a bit over $400. The same parts, with the exception of geometry, from Renner USA are about $325.00. Steinway has effectively foreclosed all options for obtaining parts for German Steinways except through New York, and has more than doubled the cost over their already more costly parts. This is a cruel treatment for their many loyal clients, most of whom can not afford these prices. To complicate matters, I spoke with Michael Mohr about this situation, and he claims that the extra cost is due to the labor costs in Germany. Michael contends that the Renner shanks & flanges sold from the New York price list have the same geometry as those used in Hamburg, and offers to bore and glue up the Renner hammers in New York for less. I am concerned about the problems I encountered in 1992. Has anyone experienced this difficulty? I would be very grateful for suggestions. Steve Cannon Austin, TX
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