the piano of the Soviet bloc countries. When the wall came down in '87, Petrof began importing to America through Geneva International. What was a problem before 1987, that of state controlled mismanagement and poor quality control, became a plus after 1987 since the Czech's didn't use up their supplies of old growth spruce and beech, unlike the Germans and the Austrians. Petrof supplies woods to the region's top piano manufacturers, and in turn has incorporated german steel strings, Renner actions, sand-cast plates, some of the finest felt I've seen, etc... The first Petrof's that were introduced needed alot of re-regulation, voicing, and tuning. There are some dealer's that are selling as new Petrof's that have been on their floor since the mid-nineties. Compare those to what's coming out of the Petrof factory now, and you'll see a much improved entry-level performance piano. Pricing runs around $19,000 for a 5'8" model IV. I've been told by piano technicians that the Petrof grand is way underpriced, and the increased sales of the pianos verses the Yamaha seem to point to that ( the choice being, purchase a mass produced machine-made Asian instrument using the least expensive materials to create a piano of a certain performance level, or buy a hand-built labor-intensive European instrument from a 145 year old company that uses some of the finest woods in the world...at the same price point. Hmmm?). The veneers in Mahogany and Walnut are really beautiful, too. The new instruments seem to need a bit of voicing (they come in rather bright, but in a bell-like way verses a brassy way), but have tremendous sustain. This new crop of Petrof's are exceptional for the price. Sincerely, Eric Frankson
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