improvements

[John Musselwhite]

At 09:38 AM 04/05/02 -0400, Terry wrote:

> > Actually, over the years an observable trend has thrust itself upon
> > me. Invariably, the quality of the piano manufacturer seems to be
> > inversely proportional to the number of brand names it manufactures
> > under.
>
>Hmmmmm..... Steinway & Sons, Boston, Essex........ what is the trend here?

As I mentioned in a previous message, it's the same trend you see with 
other American musical instrument makers. Why should Steinway be any 
different? It is, after all, a publicly-traded company that needs to make 
rising profits in order to attract and keep investors.

Since the number of pianos they can make in a year in NYC is pretty-well 
fixed what other options do they have that won't compromise the quality of 
their instrument (the "Standard Piano of the World") in light of the rising 
costs of doing business? There are two obvious directions that have been 
very successful for other musical instrument manufacturers while retaining 
the integrity of their main products. They could make some of the cases 
more elegant and more expensive as well as more profitable, which they have 
done, and they could start selling more inexpensive pianos made under their 
auspices but with a different brand name made overseas, which they have 
also done.

Sounds like a good plan to me compared to how the company was bled dry by 
CBS for two decades in the last century and we still have to put up with 
that whole era of their pianos. Regardless of the vintage at least Steinway 
has left us with a standard salvageable "carcass" in different sizes that 
we can restore, detail or customize at will. We should salute them for 
that, not berate them because their instruments have been basically the 
same for a hundred years.

                 John

John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
Pianotech IRC chats Tuesday and Thursday nights and Sunday Mornings
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