<div>Hi Lorenzo,</div> <div> </div> <div>you are not the only one getting a sad feeling thinking of the progress a digital piano makes both in business and quality. A lot of people these days look at the price tag when choosing a piano for the daughter who starts piano lessons. they get a few options: </div> <div> </div> <div>1. Pay a horrible amount of money for a new quality piano</div> <div>2. Pay an more or less affordable price for a secondhand quality piano.</div> <div>3. Get a shiny new Chinese or the sort of piano cheap</div> <div>3. Pay the same as for the Chinese piano, get it also new, shiny and it even sounds so much better than that acoustic piano. and guess what no tunings or maintenance. and when the daughter is not that talented in the beginning you get the cheap headphones for free with the piano..... </div> <div> </div> <div>I see it happen so often that it is scary.</div> <div> </div> <div>People go for the price and want it to sound good as well and all those famous artists on TV..... they play also a digital Yamaha or Roland....</div> <div>The saddest thing is that eventually after a few years they need to buy a quality instrument after all to keep up with the lessons, and then they notice that their precious instrument is about worth nothing....</div> <div> </div> <div>The biggest problem is that you can make a nice piano out of "some" Chinese brands with the right amount of attention and time. but store owners to often like to go for the fast money ;-(, because it will bring the prices closer to a second hand U1 or U3 and then they won't sell anymore. </div> <div> </div> <div>But you have to say the Chinese are very consistent in the work they deliver. At the moment i am staying in a hotel in Beijing with a nice Yamaha C3, the tuner here manages to make it sound like a Hsinghai upright about 100 cm tall. but this is probably for an other topic..... </div> <div> </div> <div>Keep the faith and don't loose the enjoyment in this nice craft of ours.</div> <div>Think of all those nice customers with quality instruments that are an enjoyment to work on.</div> <div> </div> <div>Kind regards,</div> <div>Peter</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><br><br> </div> <div class="gmail_quote">On Jan 18, 2008 7:42 PM, Conrad Hoffsommer <<a href="mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu">hoffsoco@luther.edu</a>> wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <div class="Ih2E3d">Richard Brekne wrote:<br>> Hi Lorenzo<br>><br>> There are no doubt many who feel like you do.<br></div>> Cheers<br>> RicB<br><br><br>Yes, there are.<br> <div class="Ih2E3d"><br>>    A simple question: am I the only one who is deeply offended by the<br>>    terminology "digital piano".<br><br>>    I dare suggest that I am not the only Guild member (associate in my <br>>    case) that finds it appalling that certain well known manufacturers<br>>    of acoustical instruments have described their offerings of<br>>    electronic devices that mimic acoustical instruments as pianos. <br><br></div>The appellation "piano" for those objects is a vestigial transference,<br>just like the term "tuning hammer".<br> <div class="Ih2E3d"><br><br>>    Let it be known, as obvious as it is, that these are NOT pianos. The<br>>    very companies whose acoustical  instruments  we regularly service<br>>    are, simply, helping to put us out of business. <br>><br>>     LORENZO LACOVARA<br><br><br><br></div>My general term for those appliances is "toaster". My current term for a<br>certain 1904 57" Epworth is "firewood"...   A crackling fire when it's <br>0°F outside is music to my ears, those toasters are not.<br><br><br>Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT, MPT, CCT -<br><br>        Certified Calibration Technician (CCT) of<br>  Bio-powered Digitally Activated Tone Generation Systems <br>"If you have to plug it in, or you can't watch how it works,<br>               I don't work on it."<br><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Kind regards,<br>Peter Joris