heavy Steinway action

[Mark Davidson]

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Okay, let's give you guys some more information (no don't have 88 SWs =
yet, just a little history).

First, I am actually the customer, not a technician.  If I knew then =
what I know now would I buy this piano -- probably not. =20
So problem #1 is simply ignorance.  Probably true for most customers.  =
I, probably like most people (piano techs excluded),=20
do not expect to have significant issues with such an instrument.

Keep in mind that Steinway pianos are not bought from the factory, they =
are bought from dealers.  Some dealers are better than others. =20
I had a choice of three L's locally, none of which were prepped (we're =
talking ZERO prep aside from tuning).  One could not be played because =
it
still had the packing material in the keyboard (they took it out while I =
was in the store).  Shocked? Welcome to reality.

The piano was chosen mainly on the basis of sound, not touch.  This =
again is probably true for many customers, particularly musicians
(a Steinway with lousy touch still sounds better than most of the other =
stuff out there, unless you want to shell out even more money). =20
I do not have any beefs with the sound.

The main reason for wanting to lighten the action is that my wife is 90 =
lbs and has some arthritis.  I can play it without problems, she is in
pain.  To generalize, it is probably more difficult to make a piano =
right for multiple people.

A while after we bought the piano, the dealer hired a good technician.  =
On a trip to the store, it was obvious that every single Steinway in
the store was significantly nicer to play touchwise than ours.  So we =
paid him to come out and do a day's work on ours.  Big improvement,
but still doesn't change the basic weight/leverage setup issues.

We also took a piano window shopping trip to New York which was a real =
eye opener.  It revealed a few things, the most important of which are
1) don't buy it if it's not right IN THE STORE.  It is possible, and =
there's really no excuse.
2) there's other good stuff out there (e.g. Faust and Harrison rebuilds, =
used Bosendorfers etc).

BTW, I don't buy the argument that because I bought it I have to leave =
it alone.

Well, that should give you guys some things to talk about :)

-Mark





  As Ed and Ric said, action making is an art, and all pianos should be =
prepped. But more important, and this is what I asked about before, is =
given that each action is different, the player needs to pick out the =
piano he/she likes. If, after a couple of years, the player complains =
about the action, we need to ask, "Is it any different from when you =
first got the piano?" Actions are kind of like a pair of shoes. If they =
don't fit and feel good when you first put them on, you can't "wear them =
in." With an action, there is not going to be much difference in the way =
it feels in the first couple of years, unless there is something wrong. =
But I don't think we should try to do some wholesale changes to an =
action that wasn't put there in the first place. Because when you change =
one thing adjustment, it has an effect on the other adjustments.=20

  This is why artists try out all the pianos in Steinway Hall to pick =
out the one they like the best. When we bought our B and D, the chair of =
our department, who is also a concert pianist, went to NY to pick out =
the piano he liked best. When I sold pianos, and when I advice people on =
buying pianos, I tell them to lookt for three things in a piano, how =
does it look, how does it sound and how does it feel. If any one of =
those three is not right, look for another piano.=20

  In other words, with regard to the customer who complained about the =
heavy action on a 3 or 4 year old Steinway, the first thing we need to =
ask is, "Is this what you bought?" If it is, there isn't much we can do =
to change it.=20

  Wim=20

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