<!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 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2>"The case and the plate are probably the only = components of a piano that <BR>should stay together. Those are the "guts" of the piano. = Anything else can be <BR>changed."</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>This was the point to my previous post. The plate is NOT made by = Steinway when the instrument is new! <SPAN id=__#Ath#SignaturePos__></SPAN> Steinway uses MAJOR non-Steinway = components in their NEW pianos. NEW Steinways are not Steinways! So, if you used all Steinway parts in a rebuild, you would have an = all-Steinway non-Steinway!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The bottom line being: "Keep your Steinway ALL Steinway" has = nothing to do with reality. The philosophy is nothing more than marketing crud - and = the customer that has been hooked by it would benefit from some education. = New Steinways are not all-Steinway. So to use non-Steinway replacement parts = is consistent with factory standards.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I hate marketing dingbats. How do they sleep at night? They are = like little bullies in the schoolyard who laugh over having successfully made fun of = someone and gotten away with it. Biological scum. Advertising with some meat and = truth is OK. But to just do it with slogans, etc. - yuk. It makes me wonder = about the public at large sometimes.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Terry Farrell</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <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> Friday, June 01, 2001 = 11:21 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: It won't be a = Steinway anymore!</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a = message dated 6/1/01 12:14:48 PM Central Daylight Time, <BR><A = href="mailto:dporritt@post.cis.smu.edu">dporritt@post.cis.smu.edu</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 been in this work for just under 30 years. =  I've heard about any <BR>question or comment possible by customers. =  There's one though, that <BR>completely stumps me! <BR><BR>If a piano needs = a new sounding board I often here "...but it won't be a <BR>Steinway = anymore."  I often come up with a lame analogy to a race driver.   = <BR>He doesn't care what kind of fuel pump his car has as long as it's the <BR>fastest it can be.  Do you want your piano to be the best = it can be, or do <BR>you want to keep this old sounding board.   = <BR><BR>Does anyone have a good, but not glib, answer for these people?  I = just <BR>don't understand their thinking.   <BR><BR>dave <BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Several years ago a letter from a lawyer = appeared in the Journal basically <BR>telling technicians that rebuilding a = Steinway is an infringement on patent <BR>rights. The gist of the article tried to = imply that only the Steinway Factory <BR>is allowed to remanufacture = Steinway pianos. Several months later another <BR>lawyer wrote an article = saying the first article is full of hog wash, and he <BR>quoted a Supreme Court = decision to prove the case. <BR><BR>At what point does a replacement of a part = other than a Steinway part make <BR>the piano NOT a Steinway? Can we change = a string, or a hammer, or remove a <BR>punching under a key, and still = have a "real" Steinway? As someone pointed <BR>out, when was the last time a = member of the Steinway family build a piano? <BR>And as someone else pointed = out, are new Steinways built entirely in the <BR>Steinway factory, like they = used to be? <BR><BR>The case and the plate are probably the only components of = a piano that <BR>should stay together. Those are the "guts" of the piano. = Anything else can be <BR>changed. Even if the piano was taken back to the = factory, some of the parts <BR>will not be manufactured by Steinway. So even those = pianos should be <BR>considered non Steinway. <BR><BR>Dave. there is no easy = answer, but I would tell your customers what they want <BR>to hear. Tell them = the parts are the best available for the instruments and <BR>that you'll = do your best to make the piano sound and play like they want it <BR>to play = and sound.  If they think it looks, plays and sounds like a Steinway, = <BR>then that is what it is. <BR><BR>Willem = <BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>