<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: What would Steinway do</title></head><body> <div>Richard B wrote:</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite>In anycase.... another point strikes me as true.  IF what you folks are saying is true to the extent it seems claimed here on Pianotech.  Then you all neednt worry a bit. No matter that Steinway has achieved a greater market share then any branch of any industry in history.... such  quality will sooner or later spell "demise".  That of course can mean either a turnaround.... or a dissapearance.</blockquote> <div><br> <br> </div> <div>Rich and all,</div> <div><br></div> <div>I don't believe that it will spell "demise" or disappearance just yet . . .</div> <div><br></div> <div>A few weeks ago there was a thread going on another list about scaling when I wrote the following;</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">"This topic of scaling inadequacies in shorter pianos has interested me since very early in my concert tuning career, during the late 70's. It has taken three decades for the world of mainstream piano design to make a move. The pace of change remains painfully slow. I believe this is a consequence of the market dominance of one company, which refuses to change their product because they are so successful that they don't have to change a thing. There remains considerably more to be achieved in the area of scaling, if we allow ourselves to move the goal posts to wherever they need to be for best performance. The evolution of the acoustic piano is not yet complete."</font></blockquote> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000"><br></font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">I think the above has some relevance to your comment Rich, because I believe that the S&S marketing strategy has been so successful that they have found themselves able to continue doing very well, building instruments which are no longer leading edge. Nevertheless, they do seem to know where to draw the line (in Hamburg at least). Baldwin had a similar artist programme to S&S, but they would seem to have taken their casual approach to standards are little too far to keep the balance sheet the right color.</font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000"><br></font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">I predict, that when the new raft of thinking piano designers from around the planet start to gain some traction, we'll very likely see S&S respond with an upgraded range, just like Harley did with the V-rod. Eventually, Harley came to the realisation that quality chrome and paint alone wasn't quite enough.</font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000"><br></font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">At present though, in piano-land, for some it remains 'steady as she goes'.</font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000"><br></font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">Best,</font></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">Ron O.</font></div> <div><br></div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#0000FF"><b>OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY</b></font></div> <div><font color="#000000"><i>   </i></font><font color="#0000FF"><i>Grand Piano Manufacturers</i></font><font color="#000000"><br> _______________________</font></div> <div><font size="-2" color="#000000"><br> </font><font color="#000000">Web http://overspianos.com.au</font></div> <div><font color="#000000">mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au<br> _______________________</font></div> </body> </html>