<HTML><HTML>Greetings,            Thank you for y= our response. You are not alone in loving this work. Me too. I guess I have = to get over my past resentment when my mother (with every good intention) pu= rchased a spinet to replace our old upright (which I would have liked repair= ed).              Tha= t spinet really discouraged me. It just didnt play well or sound right to me= . Now that I have studied and played classical, I still feel that way.           However everything yo= u said makes good sense. I know that a piano is a personal preference and th= at different pianos, yes even spinets, satisfy some folks. It all depends on one's needs. As you mentioned the VW; 60 mph           I refurbish "orphan" = pianos and have a playing backround. When folks come to me, I make it a poin= t to find out what type of music a person plays and I can see where they are= in their studies and where they are most likley going. (I used to teach) I = feel as a pianist, that I have a responsibility to make a judgement call on = what a player's needs are and try to project what playing they may come into= . I am a proponent of piano playing. I want them to be encouraged and to pla= y and enjoy their instrument. If a kid is studying classical for a couple of= years, This may be seroius!!   I am honest with them and the pare= nts. I tell them that they may not be satisfied with the touch and tone of a= spinet when they get into the thundering Beethoven. They usually don't grav= itate to the spinets anyway.(just as I didnt as a kid)              However, for ex= ample, I had a lady whose raised a family, all the kids gone, and had moved = to a small house and wanted something small to play for hobby and for when t= he grandkids visit. She loved this spinet I had.  And that's fine. I tr= y to make sure they like it before they take it. (Although I dont understand= why folks think spinets take up less room)(the length and for the most part= the depth of a spinet is almost the same as a larger upright) I think its s= ort of an optical/spacial illusion that a spinet takes less room. really onl= y by height is that true)(the grandkids may not like it either) but she was = an adult who knew what she wanted.  I often wonder: *If my grandparents= would have had a spinet, would I have wanted to play???*            I dont like to = take in many orphan spinets. I feel it inconscionable to sell them. It just = feels sinful to take money for a piano that isnt up to my playing standards,= especially when I love to repair them, even if they are spinets.            I didnt mean to offen= d you or make us look bad. I do find some of the marketing comical such as; = Acrosonic (dont get me wrong Acro's are decent spinets), but it sounds like = its related to the newly discovered supersonic boom barrier which was broken= around the 50's-60's, and  that anything you play on it becomes airbor= ne in a sub-nuclear way or somthting. Again. dont get me wrong an Acrosonic = is a decent spinet, but some of those names/claims stenciled on the harp pla= te!              You have to adm= it some of those marketing terms...are...pseudo scientific, an= d meant to have a specific appeal, even if they do redesign a da capo bar or= something and give it a name.            I do understand= what you are conveying about bashing, but from a player's point of view it = is tempting to jest about.            Every piano is = some sort of playing opprotunity. Even the spinets, although its not what I = would prefer to play.  I will gratefully keep in mind your suggestion t= hat it doesn't look professional to bash them. This, I believe. Long e-mails are fine. I am grateful for all they teach, heaven knows I need= the knowledge, and I didn't know that in professional circles some frown on= spinet bashing! Respectfully, Julia Gottchall. Reading, PA In a message dated 12/5/2004 3:36:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, JWyatt1492@ao= l.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Hello Julia,         YES !  They made good pianos  IF= you compare apples to apples.   They made thousands upon thousands of Sp. pianos starting in the mid 40,s.  THAT  was what was WANTED   and  NEEDED  AT  THAT TIME.     There were several different  BETSY-ROSS  Sp.s    The first was Scale 19  BUILT IN 1935-36 The bass section had about 36 notes and it was  bad. Then there was the scale 21 it was  better then the 21-A even better, then the 22- then 22A- 23 - 23A  24 - 24-A  finally the scale 25.  To my knowledge the last scale built.    You could compare the Betsy,s to the $ 895.00 1950s  V.W. car.  it would  NOT run 95 miles per hour. However it may very well run 60 miles per hour for two hundred thousand miles for peanuts.  Their action is the only thing that developed a "pattern" fault and Lester did not build it. It had one connector that was made of plastic and had a propensity to break. In the late 40,s  we tried repairing (glue, inserts ect. ) them but soon found that to replace was the only way to go.        Thank God for these plastic elbows as I= have been replacing them for over 54 years. They bought several pairs of shoes for my kids.   Grands!!!       Their small Grand was scale "75" it was and is one of the  BEST  4ft. 6in. grand's built.  The scale 80 a 5ft 3in. was just fair.  Their  6ft.1in. was a great piano. It used a W.N.G. 850-S action and frame. Many including me  thought it was a knock-off of Steinway's round-tail "A". Their  9ft. Piano was an outstanding Concert Piano.  Many including me thought it to be a knock-off of a  Field-Lipman that was built by  A.M.Hume.         Julia,   years ago I  out grew my ego- stroking. I would roll my eyes,  I would  belch and I would  burp.  I now chringe when I hear my fellow professionals participate in BASHING any piano.   As a profession I often hear complaints about the lack of respect we receive from within our industry.  With this sort of    bashing,   belching, &nbs= p; burping and  raw  ego  stroking   is there any wonder why? =    If we act like amateurs we will surely be regarded as such. I personal find this saddening.  I love this profession as it has been very good to me and my family.       Am I alone in feeling this way?<= BR>             &nbs= p;      Please forgive this being so long. Respectfully, Jack Wyatt    </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>