Deadness in Falcone

[Piannaman@aol.com]

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List,

I tuned a 12-15 year old Falcone 74(I believe it is 7 foot 4 inches) last 
week, and while it was in all other regards an extremely well made 
instrument, the "killer octave" was fairly dead--not much sound, not much 
sustain.  I didn't measure crown or downbearing, but I plan to go back and 
check it out when I have time.  I have heard that some of these pianos have 
structural problems.  I know that they were bought out by Mason and Hamlin in 
the early 90s and that they were discontinued shortly afterward(though I 
don't know why, given their reputation).  Does anybody have any experience 
with this make and model?  

Thanks,

Dave Stahl

PS.  Found the article below on the web.  Old news, but interesting

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When we last wrote about Santi Falcone ("Piano Man," January 1987), his 
Falcone Piano Co. was four years old and riding high on its reputation as one 
of the finest young manufacturers of handcrafted pianos. Today, the 
Haverhill, Mass., plant is putting out 10 to 12 pianos each month. But Santi 
Falcone -- technician, designer, and builder -- is no longer there. Instead, 
he's making and selling chocolates from his home, reflecting on how it was 
that he got pushed out of his own company.What it comes down to, predictably, 
is cash flow. Falcone Piano was never profitable, and by early 1989 had run 
into serious money problems. One of the company's backers was amateur pianist 
Bud Greer, who had read the Inc. article, bought a Falcone, and promptly 
invested $1.5 million for a 50% interest. When the company hit the wall last 
year, Greer offered to put up working capital in exchange for increased 
ownership. By early April he had purchased the remaining 50% of the company's 
stock, and Santi Falcone had resigned.Falcone says he surrendered his stock 
believing no management changes would be made -- and was immediately offered 
a demotion to marketing and product development. Says current president Jerry 
Keppler, "Santi was a great PR person, but running a company was not his 
forte." Greer's investment company tapped Lloyd Meyer, a former president of 
Steinway & Sons, to be Falcone's COO."It's sad, more than anything else," 
says Falcone today. "I don't see how Greer thinks he can produce Falcone 
pianos without me. It doesn't make sense." For now, he and his wife and 
sister are making chocolates in their new cottage industry, Dante 
Confections. The business, he says, is profitable. Greer's company has gone 
on to acquire Sohmer Corp., an old-line manufacturer of high-and midpriced 
pianos under the Sohmer and Mason & Hamlin names. The plan is to do some of 
the manufacturing in the Haverhill plant, next to the Falcones. Meanwhile, 
Santi Falcone says that by February, he'll make a final decision on whether 
to start a new piano company.-- Leslie Brokaw
    
    
 

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