Chinese Pianos.....arrrgh!

[Topperpiano@aol.com]

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What I am about to say is really aimed at the customer so don't assume that I 
am talking down to the list:

I tell customers who are considering a Chinese piano that they are much 
better than the inexpensive pianos of yesteryear.  Meaning that they have better 
scaling, better execution and more reliable consistency of manufacturing than 
the Winter spinets, Rudolph Wurlitzers, or Cable pianos of the past and at least 
the cabinets are very unobtrusive in design and don't have ugly grill cloth, 
yellow oak, photo finishes or plates that look like something salvaged from a 
WWII scrap yard.  What I do say is that the main difference between pianos of 
this quality is not really the mechanical or structural integrity (laminate 
materials are very stable) but the acoustically favorable materials and design.  
Higher quality pianos will just last longer under stressful institutional use 
and sound better in the process. When speaking to the customer I try to 
explain that when you are paying triple the price for a piano what you are getting 
is sound.  I have no problem with the dealers selling this lower quality of 
pianos to people who can't afford more, I just have a problem with the quality 
being portrayed to the customer as something they are not. Most of the time the 
sales people are so uninformed that they march the customer over to the 
cheapest piano on the floor and start touting the virtues of the quality because 
they are so afraid of losing the sale to another Chinese pianos at a competitive 
dealer.  They forget that many people can afford something better and with 
very little real education can hear the difference.  How many times have we 
walked into a $500,000 home and seen a piano that cost less then the kitchen stove 
or refrigerator.  If these people will marble their shower stall, spend 
$40,000 on landscaping, $75,000 for the Land Rover or Hummer or fly first class to 
Europe for a vacation they can afford the best piano on the market. It is 
partly up to us, the technician, to help educate in this regard.  How many 
potential life long piano students lose interest because their inexpensive piano just 
doesn't have the pretty tone, long decay, and singing quality of a beautiful 
handmade piano. Ask any real professional why they insist on a minimum level 
of quality.  It's not the name on the fallboard, it's the quality of the sound 
they are getting. 
Just my opinion. TP

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