Dolge book

[James Grebe]

Dear list,
	The Dolge book, "Pianos and their Makers" has 1 flaw.  Dolge was friends
with all the makes of pianos and their manufacturers since he was a
supplier to the whole piano industry at the time.  He therefore says only
good things about all the histories and background information.  If you
read it, all the makers built that he reviewed only built "high grade"
pianos.
	On the other hand, some information is much better than none.
	Reading these books can do you a lot of good for other uses.  I, for
instance, have written and published (myself) histories and biographies of
the more popular makes of instruments in a 4 page pamphlet form.  When I
get a new client with one of the brands that I have information on, I give
them a history pamphlet on their make of piano.  Along with the other
pamphlets that I have written this impresses the heck out of them when they
learn more about their own pianos' history.  I also have pamphlets on "How
To Choose Your Last Piano First",  "How To Choose Your New to You Piano",
"Methods of Tuning", "Pitch Raising Your Piano", "How To Make Your Piano
Live Forever, --Almost",  "How to Sell Your Piano".
	I do not do much action regulating or rebuilding anymore or I would have
written pamphlets on those subjects.  Since I do a lot of piano bench
building I am about to write one on what to look for in bench construction
and what makes a great bench from just a bench.
	The thing that really impresses the clients is that they see that I wrote
the pamphlet, I printed them, and I gave it to them for no cost.  Doing
this all myself in black and white is more effective than buying already
written pamphlets from somewhere else.  Besides, since I wrote the pamphlet
I never have to worry about disagreeing with myself.  It also forces me to
keep my stories straight. Many ask for multiples to give to their piano
owning friends .
Regards,
James Grebe from St. Louis
pianoman@inlink.com