Friends: In response to Ed Tomlinson's post... Our chapter toured the Steinway factory about five weeks ago. I got the impression that Steinway does not intend to make a consistent piano, where each one is like all the rest. Our guide made a point of mentioning they do not try to keep the outer rims all cookie-cutter identical. Rather, they will shape the soundboards and plates to fit the rims; each piano has its own identity, so to speak. Which raises another question. Are the pianos that are manufactured in a more labor-intensive way necessarily better than those done with a great deal more automation? We tend to think so; is it true? It certainly makes them more pricey. I tuned my first Steinway 1098 vertical two days ago for a recital today. It wasn't much fun, but it didn't drive me crazy, either. My greatest concern is whether or not my tuning remained stable, since I remember the posts here several months ago referring to the tuning difficulties associated with this particular model. At our chapter meeting last Tuesday a member mentioned an article about buying a piano in the November "Money" magazine, so I went out the next day and bought one (not a piano; the magazine!). Of course we know myriads of wealthy (?!) piano technicians regularly subscribe to this magazine; so all _they_ have to do is find their current copy and turn to page 206. ;-) I felt the article's information was generally accurate. If everyone followed its advice we would have fewer PSOs to deal with. Clyde Hollinger
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