<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2722" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>While I'm not a big fan of Chinese pianos in general, they are FAR bett= er than most of the low end pianos produced in the US in the 70s, 80s and 90s.  Let's see, would I rather work on a Pearl River or an Andrew Kohl= er spinet.? Or an American made Kohler and Campbell piano of that era?  </= DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We used to have a few good mid-range pianos built in the US.  Sohm= ers and Everetts were around and were decent little pianos when I firs= t started in this business, and not dreadfully expensive.  As near as I c= an tell, Charles Walter is perhaps the only one that fills that bill, and they = are definitely at the high end of mid-range.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Many of these shiny pianos with disc players are purchased by chea= p people.  By that, I mean people who could afford a Steingraber, but cho= ose to buy little Jenny a "beginner's piano," because it is so pretty and a real= deal.  People who think nothing of spending 60 grand on an SUV and all = that money to fill it with gas, but who don't consider music "serious" enough to spend real money on.  </DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For some people, though, even a low-end Chinese studio piano is stretch= ing the budget to the hilt.  Will I refuse to work on that piano?  No,= because I see that the people are serious about having their child learn music.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>Let's face it:  manufacturing has gone overseas, and as Ed says, w= e have asked for it.  Who on this list has a computer that wasn't made in= China?  Who isn't astounded at how inexpensive all of these electronics goods are these days?  Everyone likes cheap stuff.  Bu= t it has its cost in human terms, as Ed pointed out.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The trouble is, when jobs are hard to come buy, even cheap stuff seems expensive.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>ON the griddle,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dave Stahl</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>In a message dated 9/29/2005 9:11:26 AM Pacific Standard Ti= me, A440A@aol.com writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Greetings, <BR>       The American public is = the reason that China is selling so many goods <BR>over here. We are the ones buying the goods produced over there.  This is a <BR>very clear examp= le of Americans helping themselves to the cheapest bargains at <BR>the expens= e of their own industry. </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>