<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2>Well, yes people want to spend they're leisure time = doing other things.  Kids want instant gradification.  they don't = want to take piano lessons because it involves effert.  I said that the = piano really hasn't changed in 60 years, I am referring to the acustic = piano.  Practice bars were in old upright pianos.  The conpetition was a = lot tuffer.  Everybody was trying to out do everybody else.  Good = entry new pianos years ago Everetts, Stecks, Kimball, and others were = available.  Features that were used in cheap pianos, such as key buttons, aren't = being used in mor expensive pianos today.  I guss the big improvement is the = use of plastic, in piano actions.  No wood to replace.  However, = they're certain designs in actions in my opinion have taken a steep = backwards.  Years ago in the old American upright, the screw, but plate design was used.  The butt was screwed in the front with the regular wood = flange in the front, and the center pin went through the flange into the but and = the hole was half a hole and they're was a but plate screwed in the back, and the = pin was griped between the butt plate and flange.  Every time they're was a = seasonal change, you had to push the pins back in because of change in tempreature, plus tighten the screws in the front and back.  When = the pianos got old, when you tightened those screws in the back, because of = rotten wood, the butts would split.  Of course you could use conventional = wood flange butts to solve this problem.  The arrangement I described = above was discontinued in the american pianos years ago.  Yamaha, Kawai, and = probably others who used it discontinued it also.  However, Young Chang, and = others still use it.  I was told by a rep that they can assemble the butts = quicker.  However, if a piano is used hard, you have to do all this = extra work to keep the instrument working properly with a season change.  = Is that design considered an improvement?? I think not.  You would think = that these foreign manufacturers would change.  Lynn</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:gleng@fast.net" title=gleng@fast.net>Glenn = Grafton</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 25, = 2000 2:44 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Sohmer</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>>I have to agree, the piano hasn't improved = basically in the last 60 years.<BR>>The industry is at fault, and as long as the old = piano is being repaired, I<BR>>agree that the old pianos are better than = most new ones, you're better off.<BR>>Can an industry survive if no = improvements are being made?? In the<BR>>automobile industry, most cars in this part = of the country, eventually rust<BR>>out, or most cars wear out, after = 200000 miles. The average car probably<BR>>lasts about let's say 10 to 15 = years. They're is a turn over of cars. The<BR>>industry survives, and = improvements are being made. The piano is totally<BR>>different. quality is deteriorating, price goes up, and as you said no<BR>>change. I hate = to see good pianos discarded because they're old. I could<BR>>probably get = hundreds of old upright pianos, most could be rebuilt, = but<BR>>instead people want these new, shiny looking pianos, but again they're no<BR>>better, if anything worse than the old piano. We are = becoming a throw away<BR>>society. The average TV, when it quits, you throw it = away and get a new one<BR>>and it's made in Japan, or some where else, = the service industry is slowly<BR>>going down hill. I've never been to = a Nam show, but some day will attend<BR>>one, and I'm sure it's a lot of = fun. Lynn<BR><BR>I would take exception to some of the conclusions made = above. Some brands have remained virtually unchanged, others like Yamaha have done = made a lot of improvements. Compared to many other instruments, the piano has = morphed into many different forms-digital pianos, player pianos, pianos with = silent practice functions, etc. Old pianos are often not better than new = ones. Years ago the entry level piano was something like a Lester or Wurlitzer = spinet-not exactly stellar instruments. Even comparing decent quality consoles, = play a new Yamaha 44" console next to a 40" Sohmer or Knabe console and the = Yamaha sounds better. Certainly there are many exceptions-Korean, Chinese, = Indonesian and Russian pianos are often times nothing to write home = about.<BR><BR>The practicality of taking an older upright and rebuilding it usually does = not make sense financially. I know two tuners that did that with their = personnal instruments, only to find that when they went to sell them they were "overimproved" and didn't bring even close to what they put into = them-like taking a row house and putting a $30,000 kitchen in it. We're a throw = away society only in the sense that many products today sell for such low = prices they don't warrant repairing them. Some pianos which need extensive = work certainly fall into that category where the cost to repair them is = greater and the results are lower than getting a new piano. Higher quality pianos-especially grands of course are an exception.<BR><BR>I would = say that with some brands on the market the real cost has gone down for what a compareable piano would have cost years ago. We may = <?fontfamily><?param Geneva>reminisce<?/fontfamily> about how cheap = pianos sold for years ago but remember that in the '70's you could get a new = VW Beatle for $1995 and everyone made a lot less.<BR><BR>The real = problems often times are:<BR>* Peoples attention spans are shorter.<BR>* There's many = more leasure time activities than there were years ago which are in direct competition with the dollars and time to the effort involved in = learning to play the piano. Soccer, Roller Hockey, Health Clubs, the Internet, = Computers, Satellite TV, etc. are all activities that people and their kids get = involved with that cut into the free time that in the past would have been = spent on piano playing.<BR>* People often put a higher priority on bigger & = more expensive homes and cars over pianos. (We'll often have someone pull = up in a new Ford Expedition looking for a nice used piano for the little tyke = to start lessons on for a couple hundred dollars.<BR><BR>The challenge we have = is to extol the long term benefits of learning to play and owning a quality piano.<BR>Glenn Grafton<BR>Grafton Piano & Organ Co.<BR>Souderton = PA<BR>http://www.dprint.com/grafton/<BR>gleng@fast.net<BR>800-272-5980<BR= ><BR>The box said "Requires Windows 95, or better." So I bought a Macintosh.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>