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<DIV>I understand this very well. I'm just trying to understand what the
customers are saying when they claim it won't be a Steinway anymore. I
suspect they are grieving the loss of it's condition when new. They truly
only have two choices; leave it as it is, or rebuild it to make it better.
I have just never understood what they were trying to say by their statement
that "it won't be a Steinway anymore."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>dave<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR
***********<BR><BR>On 6/1/01 at 10:23 PM Tom Servinsky wrote:</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Just how many pianos have the Steinway family
members built in the last century. I mean Steinway family members, working in
the factory, actually getting their hands dirty and sweating it out. My
bet is less than 1% of the total output since their inception into piano
building has any of the family members actually built Steinway pianos.
Stradivarius, ahhhhh, that was a different situation. He alone, built all the
Strads and thus, in my opinion, those are true Strads. Steinways on the
other hand...a whole different story. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I hope you are seeing where I heading with this
direction. Just what is a true Steinway?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Were the CBS years real Steinways?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In theory a Steinway is in the design and choice
of woods. If a soundboard needs replacement, and as long as the
design and theory are adhered to, the Steinway can be
correctly remanufactured to the Steinway specifications.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Obviously there are many on this list who have
strong feelings that Steinways can be and should be... more. They embellish
the soundboard, change some of the configurations, change leverage ratios in
the action, and basically create a embellished version of a Steinway.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is that still considered a Steinway?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Does that deplete the value of the
piano?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>At this point I say who cares.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My attitude is if a rebuilder does a magnificent
job overcoming some inherent problems and creates this instrument into a
masterpiece...a tip of the hat to them. If the action turns out to be a
much smoother performing machine than before, is that wrong?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I guess I'm more humored at the notion as to what
is considered a real Steinway. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There are many of great Steinway pianos gracing
many concert halls and recording studios with no Steinway parts in the action.
Do you think the artist knows or cares? How about Joe Public buying the CD?
Really, who cares. If it sounds great and it happens to be a
Steinway....great. Enjoy it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tom Servinsky, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:dporritt@post.cis.smu.edu"
title=dporritt@post.cis.smu.edu>David M. Porritt</A> </DIV>
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<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> Friday, June 01, 2001 12:22
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> It won't be a Steinway
anymore!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I have been in this work for just under 30 years. I've heard
about any question or comment possible by customers. There's one
though, that completely stumps me!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If a piano needs a new sounding board I often here "...but it won't be
a Steinway anymore." I often come up with a lame analogy to a race
driver. He doesn't care what kind of fuel pump his car has as long as
it's the fastest it can be. Do you want your piano to be the best it
can be, or do you want to keep this old sounding board. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Does anyone have a good, but not glib, answer for these people? I
just don't understand their thinking. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>dave</DIV><BR><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
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<FONT size=3>David M. <FONT color=#000000
face="Times New Roman">Porritt</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3><A
href="mailto:dporritt@swbell.net">dporritt@swbell.net</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Meadows School of the Arts</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Southern Methodist University</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Dallas, TX 75275</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>
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<FONT size=3>David M. <FONT color=#000000
face="Times New Roman">Porritt</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3><A
href="mailto:dporritt@swbell.net">dporritt@swbell.net</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Meadows School of the Arts</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Southern Methodist University</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Dallas, TX 75275</FONT></DIV>
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