Petrof

[VOCE88@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/2/98 1:55:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jory@teleport.com
writes:

> 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        
>  
>  
Hi Jory -

You make a very valid point. We have all seen Steinway grands ( or other makes
) that with some string leveling, hammer work, and regulation seem to give (
in the ears of pianists ) dramatic musical improvements. 

Richard Galassini
Cunningham piano Co
1 800 394 1117