Who needs,,,,,,,,,,

[John Musselwhite]

At 01:58 PM 1/13/2001 -0500, A440A@AOL.COM wrote:

>Inre unfinished Steinways, John writes:
>
><<it means that in a new piano *you*
>have control over the growth of the last bit of the piano's potential
>rather than it being realized in a modern computer controlled factory
>somewhere just like the last one that rolled off the assembly line. That
>should be a *good* thing, not something to complain about.>>
>
>Greetings,
>    That doesn't explain why the hammershank traveling is so poor,  or why 
> the

I suspect the travelling is often poor by the time they're delivered 
because the flanges don't have a solid base on which to sit. The cloth over 
the action rails is terribly traditional, but is it all that stable when new?

>damperwires are so unpolished that they make as much noise  as old trichord
>felt, or damperwires that are pressing very firmly against one side or other
>of the guidebushings.  It also doesn't explain why there are so often loose
>pins in the bridge,(I've learned to cure false beats here), or why the key
>bushing can be erratic.

Many of these problems are evident in different vintages of instruments. In 
some years there were worse things than that. I look after an M purchased 
new in 1972 that was a total disaster right from the showroom floor but no 
one told the owner.

>    There is little reason to send a piano out with glide-bolts all over the
>place, or the front-pins nicked by the spacing tool of an ignorant or
>careless worker.

Glide bolts are a regulating problem. That piano has possibly been sitting 
in a crate in NYC for a while. I can't argue with sloppy workmanship though.

>    Quality control costs money, and it seems that there is a lot of trading
>on the name that is going on in New York.

Indeed it does, Ed. I hear both Fazioli and Bosendorfer have excellent 
quality control. What do they cost... nearly twice the Steinway or only 
half again as much? What are their comparable maintenance schedules?

A Yamaha CF-III costs more than an S&S D, at least here in Canada. I hear 
their quality control is good too. Perhaps if Steinway raised their 
prices  to catch up with the others they could afford quality control as 
well.  B-})

                 John

John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
email: john@musselwhite.com    http://www.mp3.com/fatbottom