<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; =
charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.100" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Wimblees@AOL.COM =
href="mailto:Wimblees@AOL.COM">Wimblees@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, November 07, =
2001 1:43
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Astonia(?) =
grand</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a =
message dated
11/7/01 11:24:32 AM Central Standard Time, <A
href="mailto:tonyanj@hotmail.com">tonyanj@hotmail.com</A> writes: =
<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px =
solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE">I have a friend who is a budding concert pianist and is =
looking
for an instrument. He has moved from my area but is asking for =
direction in
his search. He found an Astonia(?) grand that he likes and is within =
his
budget but I know nothing about this brand.</FONT><FONT lang=0 =
face=Arial
color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"> <BR></FONT><FONT =
lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Anyone?
Anyone?</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial =
color=#000000
size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"> <BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 =
face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Thanks,</FONT><FONT =
lang=0
face=Arial color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"> =
<BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">John =
Tonyan </FONT><FONT
lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=3 =
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR><XMP></XMP></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial =
color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>It's Estonia, built in the =
republic of
Estonia. Let's put it this way, there are 16 brands of grand pianos 9' =
and
over, ranging in price from $39,500 to $108,390. Guess where the =
Estonian is?
As the old adage says, you get what you pay for. <BR><BR>I don't have =
any
personal experience with the instrument as far as tuning is concerned, =
but
there is a 9' Estonia grand in the show room of the local piano =
dealer. It
sounds great, and plays nice. So if your friend likes it, then by all =
means,
have him buy it. But if his budget only allows him to pay $39,000 for =
a piano,
perhaps a 7'- 7'9" grand for the same price (Petrof, Yamaha, Kawai, =
Schimmel),
might be a better investment. <BR><BR>Wim </FONT>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>