[pianotech] who pays?

[David Love]

I think you are being unrealistic.  Can we expect to see on your website
that "there are many rebuilders around the area and country who do work just
as good as ours but we hope you'll choose us?"  I doubt it.  Would you want
someone stretching strings over every rebuild/redesign that you've done and
drawing conclusions about the rest of your work based on that one piano?
Although I do agree they would have been smart to send a piano that they
felt represented their best work.    

 

It's no coincidence, in my opinion, that this marketing strategy by Steinway
comes on the heels of much discussion and promulgation of new designs and
fairly radical changes to the status quo.  While I don't want to get into
arguing the merits of all those design changes (people can judge for
themselves) there's no question, that if you radically reshape the panel,
add six to eight ribs and increase rib stiffness and crown considerably,
etc, etc, that you will be changing the character of the piano and it's more
change than just a Steinway without the warts.  It's different.  I think
Steinway is reacting to that and I think it's within their purview to do
that.  

 

I don't happen to agree with them on everything that they post in that ad
and further, it's no secret, I think there are some things to criticize
about their current and historical production and designs.  Some things they
abandoned, some they didn't.  I've discussed recently, for example, my
problems with NY Improved parts, especially pinning and bushing cloth.  I
agree it's also the case that compression crowning comes with some risks, as
David Hughes adroitly pointed out in this month's journal article.   He also
points out, correctly I believe, that compression crowning does produce a
certain liveliness, even though the longevity can be unreliable.

 

I also think that if the design change line had been drawn at doing
Steinways with precrowned ribs and somewhat less compression (like the
Hamburg pianos are done) without attacking virtually every aspect of their
designs including scales, bridges, hitch pins, counterbearing bars, cut-off
bars (or lack thereof), belly bracing, the list is endless, that such a
response by them might not have been forthcoming.  

 

Admittedly, I engaged in some of those criticisms myself, until I built
enough pianos both ways, and I now think many of the criticisms achieved
proportions far beyond any reality.    

 

This is not to say, in case there is any confusion about my intent here,
that many of those changes don't produce acceptable results, even steer the
piano in a direction that some might find desirable.  But we shouldn't
confuse that with simple improvements in production reliability and wart
removal.  Executed to the full extent, they can represent real changes in
character and I think Steinway is reacting to that.  I think not only are
they are within their right to do that but we might only have ourselves to
blame.  

 

David Love

www.davidlovepianos.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dale Erwin
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 9:55 AM
To: gnewell at ameritech.net; pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] who pays?

 

 

 

 Question; If the factory rebuild carries the same quality and warranty as
new, why should anyone ever buy a new piano? (They aren't. In this economy,
there buying used and rebuilt.)Aren't they kind of shooting themselves in
the foot here?----Greg

 

 Yes, they shoots themselves and certainly without our help

  Dennis E., Ron N and I looked at an A-2 in Rochester 2005 that had been
just restored in the Stwy Restoration center and was on display there. We
ran a crown string across the bottom and no residual crown. We discovered it
had a freshly oil canned Genuine Steinway built soundboard and it sounded
very unmusical. It had all genuine Steinway parts. Enough said.

  I guess I'm ticked because the marketing is personally insulting to me and
many, many of you. 

  

Just imagine the good will they could engender by spinning it differently,
by saying there are quite a few small shops around the country doing a very
admirable job of rebuilding our pianos ( and Large. ie. Ac pianocraft, Faust
Harrison, Pianocraft (Keith Kerman) in Maryland). How about encouraging
techs to use their parts instead of being so pedantic, heavy handed and
isolationist.

 

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