Petrof

[Jory A. Olson]

I'm not a technician, but according to the technician that did the work on my Petrof she didn't do anything to my piano that she didn't normally do to the Steinway's to get them ready to be put on the floor.  According to at least one source I've heard that most Steinways get an average of THREE DAYS of prep work before going out on the floor.  You can argue that the manufacturer should do the work, but it seems many including Steinway leave the "fine tuning" to the dealer.  Besides, my piano was prepped.  Most of the work done on it was what the technician described as "Concert Level" work.  If you REALLY want to know what a "raw" Petrof sounds and feels like visit Colton Piano and Organ in Santa Clara.  From what I can tell "dealer prep" there consists of removing the keystick from the action and dusting it.

I did not buy my Petrof because it was cheaper than a Yamaha.  I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford either one.  I bought the Petrof because I preferred the sound of the Petrof and knew from my experience that about $200 - $400 worth of work would make it exceptional.  

Besides, even with the most favorable dollar to yen ratio in the past ten years a Yamaha C3 still fetches $22 - $24K.  That's a huge difference. 

I can't figure it out.  If I was a piano technician I would view the relative "roughness" of a Petrof to be the ultimate money making opportunity.  Charge the customer $400 for a solid day's worth of straightforward work (nothing exotic was done to my instrument) and bask in the glow from the appreciative customer.

I encourage you folks to keep an open mind the next time you encounter a Petrof.  Maybe they're not as horrible as you think.

Jory

Date:	Mon, 31 Aug 1998 17:31:04 -0500
From:	"pianoman" <pianoman@inlink.com>
Subject:	Petrof

Hi All, 	
I'm a little late jumping in on this, but in my humble opinion, if a piano is going to be called a fine piano and the instrument maker wants his product to be known as a fine piano it should be a fine piano when it gets through with the dealer prepping and certainly before delivery.  Jory's piano may have BECOME a fine piano when it was finished by his own technician but it was only a average piano before that.  It should not be left up to the aftermarket technician to do what the manufacturer didn't do.  If the reputation of the Petrof is going to rise it must be a fine piano right out of the box, so to speak.
Let me give you an analogy.  In the pipe organ field, Kilgen was one of those manufacturers that turned them out like a cheese factory.  Many were built and set up and Kilgen got a reputation for being a mediocre organ.  They went under in the 1950's and since then, organ techs have been finding that with some tinkering of wind pressures and voicing the same instrument that was thought of as mediocre is suddenly a fine organ, now since someone took the trouble to finish what the factory started.  It should not be our job to finish what the manufacturer started.  If the maker want to get a fine reputation he should provide FINISHED pianos, not pianos almost done.  The Petrof may be cheaper than a Yamaha but how much after work do you have to do on ANY Yamaha from the largest grand to the cheapest console.  The answer you all know already.
James Grebe
R.P.T. of the P.T.G.
St. Louis, MO.
Competent Service since 1962
Caster Cup Center of the Universe
Home of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups
pianoman@inlink.com