Hello Jory. >Please somebody gently let me know if I'm out of bounds here. I'm not a technician, so I feel like I really don't belong here. I'm just trying to learn about pianos so I can be more knowledgeable when I ask for help from my technician. You are definitly not out of bounds. Remember how this list works and that it is certanly not made for people who knows it all. >As an engineer (yes, I'm one of THOSE too) I don't expect my piano to behave like my car. > >First of all my car is made out of man-made materials that are well controlled. My piano is made out of natural materials with all of the variation that goes with natural materials. This is why I think plastic actions parts are a great idea. They don't absorb moisture, so they don't change size, twist or warp over time. They all pretty much weigh exactly the same, making regulation much easier. In my opinion, what realy counts is how is it made not so much as the materials, Good plastic engineering could be a good Idea, specially for economical reasons. Iīll give you an example. I have been working for a long time in pianos. I still remember certain american made pianos, back in the sixties, specially spinets, with plastic elbows. When thy started selling, the factories stated that the plastic they used has been proved to be better than wood, twenty years later, in all these pianos I found that the plastic elbows had degraded, and became brittle and would break just by looking at them. I am still replacing those elbows in many of these pianos. If you asked me some years ago I was definitley against plastics in pianos. Now I changed my mind a little because I found that since about 20 years ago some Yamaha and Kawai parts strted being made of plastic, and I had no bad experience with them. I still want to follow them for some more years, but it seems plastic engineering has improved. Still I keep saying that all depends on excellence in production. I have also seen very well treated woods, where warp, twist and size change are barely noticeable. > >Secondly, my car has fewer moving parts. > I have been following this post sice the begining but I was unable to write before due to lack of time, I have had a lot of experience with Petroff pianos, I even attend a school which has 19 pianos and they are all Petroff. I donīt like them very much personally. Playing it I prefer Yamaha action (the feeling) or Hamburg Steinway than Petrof, In maintenance, if the owner treats it nicely it will last, but it is not made to take punishment. The pianos in the school that I tell you suffers almost constantly of loose center pins, (twice a year ) and key bushing wear ( They use them 8 hours daily, for piano lessons ) I also attend a school that has 12 pianos, 6 Yamahas 3 Baldwins 3 Steinways, used for the same purpose, more or less same amount of time daily. Centre pins last an average of two years, Bushings more or less the same. On the other side, Petrof, or the once I attend here have a very nice European sound, and a complete preparation, when they arrive realy improves them a lot. James wrote: >If I buy a new vehicle, I expect it to be right when I drive it away from the dealer. I think Jory paid more for his >Petrof than my Mazda truck. I didn't have to take my Mazda truck back till 30,000 miles for adjustment. >James Grebe I donīt agree completely with James, maybe because I also do things like that, That is a question of taste, but I just did something similar, I own a 1979 Chrysler Le Baron, V8 318CID engine for years I have been reluctant to change this vehicle, and I just had it rebuilt, all original and I hope for 20 more years ( I changed Engine, Automatic Transmission, suspension, Steering, Complete bodywork including paint, air conditioning. and it is again as new. ) regards Elian Degen
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