Krakauer console?

[Farrell]

Ya know, it just kills me to think of someone buying a piano like that (hey, don't give me any #$%&! I tuned a couple of nasty Kimball (yuk! - no, double yuk! I really can't even say in words how bad it was.) and Aeolian spinets today - so there!). If they could just go up about 1K, they could go home with a Yamaha P22: just about 4,000 times the piano for 33% more cost.

Sorry, just had to say that. Just my opinion.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <LarryinAtlanta@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: Krakauer console?


> In a message dated 2/7/2002 10:21:53 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
> hoffsoco@martin.luther.edu writes:
> 
> 
> > At 19:17 02/06/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> > >I have worked on one of these. Sound-wise and in all other respects its 
> > >sounded equally as bad as Wurlitzer, H. Cable, Lester, etc... bad.  The 
> > >customer told me that the Krakauer brand was owned by Steinway and Sons.
> > > 
> > >Jim Rickson
> > 
> > 
> > I think the only thing of Krakauer that Steinway owned was a view of it's 
> > factory across the East River
> 
> 
> Of course, you all know that Steinway didn't own them, and their employees 
> didn't have anything to do with building any of them, and that the only 
> difference between a used car salesman and some piano salesmen is that the 
> used car salesman *knows* when he's lying.......  ;-)   But to label all the 
> American built Krakauers as bad would be a mistake, since they did build some 
> extremely well made pianos during their years in business.
> 
> If you've seen one of the Krakauer consoles built in Berlin Ohio during the 
> 60s - 80s, you should be aware that these were top notch for a console. They 
> were actually better built than the consoles Steinway built. I don't know if 
> you can see the Steinway factory from Berlin Ohio, but you could apparently 
> talk to Jasper Indiana from there, because Kimball ended up owning the 
> company, and that's when things changed. They ran it in Ohio for a couple of 
> years and then closed it, letting the name sit. When they got out of the 
> piano business, they sold the Conn and Krakauer names to a Chinese company 
> they had initially intended to partner with in China, as well as all their 
> factory equipment.  The name of the company is Artfield Pianos, not Artcraft, 
> as someone thought.
> 
> The Krakauers being built in China are entry level, thats for certain. But 
> for an entry level Chinese built piano, they are in the "above average" 
> category. They hold tune very good, the actions work good, some problems with 
> bass strings not wound properly so they buzz in a few,  and sound and play 
> about as good as 90% of the consoles that were built in the US after WWII - 
> better than some of them in fact. But their biggest plus is their cabinetry. 
> Since they own all of Kimball's old furniture designs and machinery, they 
> look just like the top of the line Kimball consoles (no matter what the 
> opinion of a Kimball, you must admit they were pretty).  For a piano where 
> 95% of everyone who buys them are buying the furniture on it more than they 
> are the piano in it, the Chinese Krakauer is not a bad piano. It's 
> consistently well made for an entry level piano, very attractive so that Mom 
> is happy, not a lot of action problems, and it's relatively cheap.
> 
> Just thought I'd toss in my 2 cents worth. It's important to remember who 
> buys consoles. It isn't too often that someone asks you to help them select a 
> "high grade performance level hand crafted work of art" and then says "and I 
> only have 3 thousand to spend, and it must match my queen anne living room 
> suite."  You have to let them find the furniture they want, and then hope the 
> insides are made good enough to hold up. From my experience with them I think 
> the Krakauers will hold up just fine for the segment of the market that buys 
> that kind of piano. 
> 
> 
> Larry Fletcher
> Pianos Inc, Atlanta
> Dealer/technician
> PTG Chapter 301
>