<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple id="role_body" bottomMargin=7 leftmargin=7 topmargin=7 rightMargin=7> <div class=Section1> Steinway has, unfortunately, not raised the bar high enough in terms of quality control for pianos and parts leaving the factory.  The range of what is acceptable is fairly broad and includes everything from friction in the flanges, touch weight, proper terminations and soundboard response.  They depend a lot on the dealers for proper preparation.  The things the dealers must address can be extensive.  This inherent conflict, spoken or unspoken, between who is ultimately responsible and who pays for the remedy hurts the customer in the long run.  I don’t have a lot of opportunity to carefully examine Steinways on the showroom floor lately, though I did spend some time in years past doing some prep work.  Now, I am usually called by the customers directly when satisfaction can’t be gained through the normal channels or when there are questions that are not answered to their satisfaction.  My most recent experiences have been with leakage through the capo bar, poor regulation, heavy actions, sloppy bridge work, sloppy pinning (too tight or too loose in all areas of the piano—hammer flanges, dampers, guide rails) loose drop screws and noisy backchecks. (Things like unpredictable soundboard response I consider to be an inherent problem in the bellying process that is used so it’s hard to comment on that, at least here.)  The pinning and drop screw problem was remedied fairly easily but required a number of hours at the expense of the dealer.  To their credit, in this case, they were conscientious enough to cover the costs.  The backcheck noise which I wrote about awhile ago was first addressed by putting liquid lanolin on the backchecks at the recommendation of a few people, including Steinway.  While it did immediately reduce the noise (chiffing—as Ron N described—which sounds like clicking and rattling with certain types of touch), which did also let me know that, indeed, the backchecks were the source of the noise, the noise returned within a couple of months.  Smoothing the backchecks (another recommendation) produced no improvement.  The problem seems to be related to the backcheck material itself.  When compared with a Renner backcheck simply by running your finger over the leather (or synthetic material that Steinway also uses) the noise difference is pronounced.  Using the Renner backchecks to replace a couple of backchecks in the piano on some of the most offensive notes produced an immediate improvement.  While Steinway has agreed to send a new set of their own backchecks for replacement, I am reluctant to replace the offending backchecks with similar ones.  My recommendation has been to replace them with the Renner backchecks and I’m waiting to see what the decision is.   Regulation problems are easily solved.  Heavy action problems require more serious interventions and I have done a few of these at the expense of the customer (not covered by warranty).    In my opinion, the problems that exist need to be understood in terms of the division between what is expected by each party.  Manufacturing problems fall under the responsibility of the factory, preparation problems to the dealer.  There is a fair amount of grey area, however, where manufacturing lapses are expected to be taken care of by preparation or, where the problem is grey enough that it can be passed on as “within the range of normal”.  Whether there is an unwillingness on each side to discuss the issues and find solutions which will benefit the consumers, I can’t say.  But on the surface, it appears that those discussions are not taking place, or, if they area, they are not productive.    <div> David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net www.davidlovepianos.com </div> -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Erwinspiano@aol.com Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 7:38 AM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: Problems with new Steinways   <div> <div>   Dave/ Ron </div> <div>    I'll Have Trix type it up so it's e-mail  able.  It's short so it shouldn't take too long. </div> <div>   Dale </div> <blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt; margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'> 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 </blockquote> </div> <div>   </div> </div> </body> </html>