Sohmer

[Lynn Rosenberg]

I have to agree, the piano hasn't improved basically in the last 60 years.
The industry is at fault, and as long as the old piano is being repaired, I
agree that the old pianos are better than most new ones, you're better off.
Can an industry survive if no improvements are being made??  In the
automobile industry, most cars in this part of the country, eventually rust
out, or most cars wear out, after 200000 miles.  The average car probably
lasts about let's say 10 to 15 years.  They're is a turn over of cars.  The
industry survives, and improvements are being made.  The piano is totally
different.  quality is deteriorating, price goes up, and as you said no
change.  I hate to see good pianos discarded because they're old.  I could
probably get hundreds of old upright pianos, most could be rebuilt, but
instead people want these new, shiny looking pianos, but again they're no
better, if anything worse than the old piano.  We are becoming a throw away
society.  The average TV, when it quits, you throw it away and get a new one
and it's made in Japan, or some where else,  the service industry is slowly
going down hill. I've never been to a Nam show, but some day will attend
one, and I'm sure it's a lot of fun.  Lynn

----- Original Message -----
From: Delwin D Fandrich <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 12:55 AM
Subject: Re: Sohmer


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lynn Rosenberg" <Lynn@eznet.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: October 23, 2000 6:06 PM
> Subject: Re: Sohmer
>
>
> > I was told by a technician friend that the industry has had a problem
> since
> > the 1920s.
> > Pianos have been to well built, and as long as pianos last, the industry
> > can't survive.  %70 pianos sold are used.  How can an industry keep up
if
> > 70% sold are used.  Also, pianos are getting terribly expensive.  The
> > average person can't afford to spend $4000 or more for a piano.  If the
> > industry is to survive, pianos will get cheaper, cheaper, and cheaper,
to
> > survive.  Do you think the industry is dying, because of the above
> > mentioned, and electronics, and if so how much longer?? Lynn
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Delwin D Fandrich <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 12:08 AM
> > Subject: Re: Sohmer
> >
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
> Yes, pianos do last a long time.  I don't know that I consider this to be
a
> problem, however.  The earth does not have enough resources for us all to
> keep on buying and discarding disposable products.  Pianos should last a
> long time -- and there should be penalties levied against manufacturers
who
> build pianos that don't last a long time.  And cars.  And buildings.  And
> whatever.  We cannot continue to build disposable products and discard
them
> when we no longer want them.
>
> We are at the point at which we, as a society, must decide whether or not
we
> wish to survive as a species.  Until just a few hundred years ago the
earth
> saw about one species go extinct about ever thousand years.  There are now
> approximately 1,000 species going extinct every year.  Humans could well
be
> one of them, and sooner than we think.  (And if you really want to get me
> going, just bring up what is happening to our forests.  Or the rate at
which
> we are spewing various types of garbage into the atmosphere.  Or the rate
at
> which we are reproducing ourselves.  Or...)
>
> As may be -- have you ever gone to the NAMM show in So. California?  If
not,
> you should.  Take a good look at the 'new' pianos being offered by the
> various manufacturers.  You'll find a lot of really wonderful new
finishes.
> A few new styles, i.e., different legs and music desks, etc.  And a couple
> more German and/or U.S. designs ported over to high-volume Asian
> manufacturer.  And at least one Asian manufacturer exhibiting even more of
> the 'features' of a certain U.S. piano than it did last year.  But, it is
> rare to find any manufacturer offering a piano that actually has better
> performance than did its predecessors, especially its predecessors of,
say,
> 75 to 100 years ago.  (Last year I found just one.)  Indeed, it is rare to
> find one that performs as well.
>
> In fact, if your client has a 75 year old Whatever and wants to upgrade to
a
> new piano, quite probably his/her best option -- that is, the most musical
> option -- will be to have that old piano rebuilt/remanufactured and pass
on
> the new piano.  Each time that is done it has cost some manufacturer a new
> sale.
>
> Now, enough has been learned about piano design that this should not be
the
> case.  Any manufacturer whose product has traveled down through the
decades
> essentially unchanged is contributing to the problem.  Any manufacturer
who
> simply reintroduces a design abandoned by some other company that has gone
> out of business is contributing to the problem.  Any company ... well, you
> get the idea.
>
> My point here -- and, again, it's the same one I made in my Journal
> article -- is that the industry has given the existing piano owner very
> little incentive to trade in his/her piano for a new one.  Very few people
> buy new pianos just because the new one looks better.  Most want something
> that plays -- sounds -- better.
>
> Why is the piano industry -- seemingly alone in the manufacturing world --
> stuck in this mindset?  Who knows?  Perhaps because musical instruments in
> general tend to evolve to a certain point -- perfection? -- and then the
> design more-or-less freezes.  In the case of the piano, however, the
design
> is not finished yet.  That is, there is still much room for acoustical
> improvement for anyone who will get up the nerve to kick themselves out of
> the 19th century.  (An oblique reference to one of my favorite books, "A
> Kick In The Seat Of The Pants."  Roger von Oech.  Not about pianos, but
good
> reading all the same.)
>
> Regards,
>
> Del
>
>