Problems with new Steinways

[Tom Driscoll]

Light fixturesDale,
    Example of the Steinway warranty:
    6 year old B  in a private home.Serviced regularly (By me) here in New England with climate control system. 
    Action setup was good and visiting pianists are complimentary of the piano.
    Now here's the rub. During regular service I hear a rattle. Not hard to find as it's a loose key weight. I pull the stack and all but a few are loose. While I'm at it I check the damper levers and guess what ? 
    I'm preparing the piano for a recital and  it's after business hours so I can't contact the factory for warranty information.
    My client(s) are good friends of mine and have a well equipted home shop.
    We set up a methodology and with some improvisation found an appropriate punch and worked together to swedge every lead tight (300 leads?)
    The damper leads were tightened with a modified plier tool in my kit similar to ones seen advertised in the journal. 
    So a few hours later I start tuning.
    Now , next business day I call tech services at N.Y. and to my regret I'm informed the warr. is only five years on Steinway AND the problem was humidity related and would not have been covered anyway. When I mentioned that the piano has a climate control system the gentleman said it was probably disabled for a while(It was not!) and that could cause loose leads. 
    I mention that thousands of pianos in my service from as far back as the late 1800's have been in New England without climate control and have key leads as tight as the day installed but did not get much response other than the Warranty had expired anyway.
    To my mind when someone pays $50,000 for a piano a bit more support should come from the manufacturer.
    I wouldn't have been looking to break the bank with a bill . Perhaps the Representative 's hands were tied.(by the way it was someone other than Kent ) I have had other manufacturers --Yamaha for example ---extend the Warranty on a minor problem such as this.
    
    "I'm sorry your client is having a problem with our piano. In the interest of good customer-technician relations what would you charge us to fix the problem ? "
    
    The answer would have been $150.00.
    
    My clients paid me that night with a generous gratuity but it would have nice to get some reimbursement for them.
    While I'm on a roll why is every problem presented to Steinway the first time they've heard of this and someone else's fault (Frozen action centers as example).
   End of rant.
    Tom Driscoll RPT
    
   


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Porritt, David 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 8:32 AM
  Subject: RE: Problems with new Steinways


  Dale:

   

  Could you send me a copy of that warranty?  I have wanted to see one for a long time but it seems these are classified.

   

  dave

   

  David M. Porritt

  dporritt at smu.edu


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Erwinspiano at aol.com
  Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 11:44 PM
  To: pianotech at ptg.org
  Subject: Problems with new Steinways

   

    Hi all

    I don't get out in field much but I have seen two new Steinways recently year.  One is a new L & the other a New O.  I saw the O last week. Really quite a nice sounding piano.

      I've laid my hands on probably hundreds of Steinways of all vintages & not expereinced glide bolts so loose they were wobbling & turnable by hand.  Also they were about three cranks from being in touch with the key bed which seems to be par for the course. The damper up stop rail is all the way down on the screws & the dampers are still over traveling a mile. The clients biggest concern though is Bass dampers that won't shut off.  After tweaking futzing & lightly bending they were improved only slightly.  Primarily it was notes 11 thru15 but on forte blows they were all slow to shut off, with a very nasty over ring.  After further examination I found they no longer employ the use of damper return springs. IMO this is a mistake & a pain for any tech trying to achieve really quick shut off.  Regulation was in need but not desperate

    The L had so many false beats in the top capo sections that it was not possible to tune cleanly.  Glide bolts a mile off & keys bouncing like a spring board. etc etc.

    Are you guys seeing similar things & is any one having success getting a response from the warranty department. 

    I have more to say regarding this but want to hear your feed back.

    Thanks

    Dale Erwin

    By the way I secured  a copy of the warranty & the wording is so nebulous I can't tell it covers any thing 

   

  Dale Erwin--Piano Restorations
  Modesto, Ca.
  Shop 209-577-8397
  cell 209-985-0990
  Web site http://www.Erwinspiano.com 
  Restoration & Sales of
  Steinway & Sons plus other fine pianos.
  Custom made soundboards by design
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