Petrof even more

[Alan W Deverell]

Jory & Jim and others,

I believe that it's ALL a question of Education and PRICE - while I
appreciates Jim's sentiments, in many industries quality in the world
today is a question of survival.

Many businesses may survive on the ignorance of the consumer and
others MAY sell at a price which represents an acceptable value
relative to the customers current expectations.

Beyond these TWO factors there is then the matter of PERCEPTION and
this is where BRAND image is King. If you have un-limited funds you
may BUY a BRAND that will impress your peers rather than satisfy your
utilitarian needs - OSTENTATION, lifestyle and opulence etc. are the
image promoted and targeted by many brands.

I would like to believe, that in the Piano Industry, quality should
rule supreme, however profitability and economic survival is the
greater motivation and this industry has suffered significant
aberrations over the 100 or so years since it became significant.

The fundamental pursuit of excellence gets lost from one generation of
ownership and management to the next. New enterprises arise from the
disillusion of individuals with the lower quality perspective of their
peers or employers.

If it where not for Ignorance, Advertising, Salesmanship and Marketing
and fickle nature of the human condition we probably would not have
ANY Pianos. Fortunately the piano has captured the MUSICAL imagination
and it survives - the excellent and the not-so-excellent.

Educate - this is the BEST way.

AlanD (who loves good pianos and is also an Engineer and an educator
when Electronics Business survival permits him)

>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org
>[mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
>Of JIMRPT@aol.com
>Sent: Monday, September 07, 1998 4:22 PM
>To: jory@teleport.com; owner-pianotech@ptg.org; pianotech@ptg.org
>Subject: Re: Re: Petrof even more
>
>
>
>In a message dated 9/6/98 4:31:46 PM, jory@teleport.com wrote:
>
><<"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.
>
>As an engineer (yes, I'm one of THOSE too) I don't expect my
>piano to behave
>like my car. ">>
>
> Jory;
>You are by no means out of bounds and as for not being a
>technician that is
>fine. Also, a little extra knowledge in a subject of passion
>never hurts
>anyone and it 'might' help 'us' learn to relearn the passion
>we have for our
>trade. ;-)
>  NOW.................."Engineer" is a  different thing
>altogether and we
>might have to invade your computer with fundemantals pushed
>with radical
>fifths thereby rendering such engineering jargon as might slip into a
>conversation inane....but then that's kinda an oxymoron huh? :-)
>
><<"I don't expect my piano to behave like my car">>
>Oh ?  Do you "expect" to have to pay a tech to tweak your
>new car after it is
>delivered to you?; or do you make the dealer do it?  Why are
>you willing to
>accept performance limitations from a 16,000 dollar new
>piano that you would
>find unacceptable in a new 16,000 dollar car? Parallels
>between a car and a
>piano:
> Steering 'heavy'-touch 'heavy' ;Loose motion in steering-
>lost motion in
>wippen;
>Poor braking-poor dampening, Sluggish acceleration-sluggish attack;
>Missfiring engine- skipping jacks, etc, etc.
>  Now Jory the items for the piano would be Heavy touch,
>lost motion in
>wippen, poor dampening, sluggish attack, and skipping jacks.
> These are not
>'brand' specific items and I am 'not' talking about Petrof,
>rather in general
>terms, we could just as easily be talking of Baldwin or S&S, etc.
>.
>  I find it rather perplexing that someone, of any
>occupation, would accept
>severe shortcomings in a new 16,000 dollar piano and pay
>extra money out of
>their own pocket to get a tech to bring the 'new' piano up
>to the level of
>performance desired.................but when faced with a
>'new' car with;
>heavy steering,lost motion in the steering system, poor
>braking, sluggish
>acceleration, and a missfiring engine, would either walk
>away from the car, or
>demand that the 'dealer' fix the car at the 'dealers'
>expense, or demand a new
>car to replace this one.   Can you tell me of one person you
>know that would
>willingly buy this fictional 16,000 dollar new car and
>'willingly' "expect" to
>spend the extra dollars needed to bring it to the 'acceptable level??
>
> But we can't say the same about pianos can we? It doesn't
>make any difference
>whether two or two hundred thousand are made, if a product
>does not perform
>why would the buyer willingly accept the responsibility to
>make the product
>"righter"??
>  As the King said in the 'King and I' "It surely is a
>Scientific question
>that is a puzzlement, etceta'ra,  etceta'ra, etceta'ra."
>
>  As long as consumers, that's us'ins, allow
>dealers/manufacturers to pass off
>ill prepared merchandise for premium, or near premium,  prices the
>dealer/manufacturer will have no incentive to improve their
>product as
>delivered.
> Yamaha Made inroads into the piano industry, in this
>country, because of
>three things, 1. price, 2. reliability, and 3. service.  If
>they had 'ever'
>said "well just spend 400 or 500 dollars more of your money
>to have your tech
>'tweak' the instrument"  we would still be selling Sohmers
>and Kimballs and
>Everetts, and Gulbransens and.....well you get the idea :-)
>Strong opinions to follow.
>Jim Bryant (FL)
>
>
>
>