Steinway Keyboards

[Avery Todd]

Hi Lance,

   Good to hear from you.

>Two of my customers recently bought B's and I didn't notice this problem at
>all.  Damper guiderail bushings were very tight, some voicing and
>regulation needed to be done, but nothing beyond what I guess is reasonable
>dealer prep.

   In my case here, I guess I'm luckier than some. We have a good dealer
who's very committed to the piano being in excellent condition when it
leaves his store. And he continues that commitment to "in the home", too.
I've even done a couple of warranty type of things for him.
   This particular situation is a little different than the usual. One of
our faculty, Horacio Gutierrez, was asked to pick out the pianos for us.
When they were sent, the dealer was given instructions not to do anything
to the pianos except tune, fix sticking keys, that type of thing. No
regulation, no voicing, not much of anything. But since Gutierrez is also a
Steinway artist, the dealer didn't fight it. Now, of course, we're all
wishing he, or I, or someone, had! It was a bad mistake! If I had had more
experience with a lot of new Steinways, I would have done everything I
could to override Gutierrez. I'm hoping it was just that he thought all of
the prep stuff would be done before they left the factory.
   This particular dealer has his own techs on salary, well-trained and
experienced (one particularly) and since they're very familiar with the
condition in which most Steinways arrive, they go *completely* through
them, from leveling, dip, pulley keys, friction problems, to complete
regulation hammer fitting and some voicing. The final voicing usually waits
until the piano is sold. Especially the B's & D's. So now, he's having to
send his tech to do the work here at the school, mostly on the weekends.
The tech at Rice University, was asked to do the hammer/voicing work for
the dealer and has done a very good job. So far, once all of this work is
done, all the faculty is loving their piano. The two that haven't had
theirs prepped yet love them anyway. :-) They're all good pianos. They just
need a lot of prepping.

>  I'd say it's a drying problem.  I did notice hammer passing
>problems in a couple of L's that may be due to humidity changes.

   About the hammer passing problems, have you checked the travelling,
burning and spacing? Any of that can cause that problem also.

>What do you usually have to do to prep these pianos, and what do YOU feel
>is reasonable dealer prep.  I'm never sure what to do or point out if the
>customer doesn't know or seem to care.  I've noticed string voicing, some
>hammer voicing, and inconsistent regulation.  On a piano of this caliber, I
>feel it should be "right".  What's your procedure?

   I agree. A piano of this *potential* caliber, SHOULD be "right", but
rarely is. Pulley keys on 5 new B's and 1 D? I DON'T THINK SO! That type of
problem/mistake should never get out of the factory in the first place!
   Unfortunately, most dealers don't have any techs on salary. So many
times, the customer is lucky to get a piano that's in tune with all the
notes working reasonably correctly. We have a dealer or two like that here.
   As far as what *I* think is reasonable, see all the above. Of course,
I'm prejudiced. :-) But seriously, dealer prep, IMHO, should at least
include a thorough check for excessive friction (action, keys and dampers),
correct key level and dip, and a reasonable regulation, with enough voicing
so there are at least no notes that "slap you in the ear" every time
they're played. And of course, a good tuning, up to pitch and stabilized
with at least one in the home. It's always easier to fix problems while
still at the store.
   Some pianos won't always need *all* of this, and the cost of the piano
is a big influence on what a dealer is willing to do, but I feel that it
should all be checked, at least. Of course, I realize that this will not
always happen. For whatever reason. I'm not bitter about dealers, at all. I
know and have worked for several good ones. But I've also seen the results
of a lot of the other type of dealer.

>Lance Lafargue, RPT

   I don't know if all this is really what you were wanting, so if not,
feel free to post me again.

Avery

___________________________
Avery Todd, RPT
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4893
713-743-3226
atodd@uh.edu
http://www.uh.edu/music/