<!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 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Don,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I agree with you with what you say. I was going to say something else but I decided not to. Reason, I have designed and built pianos myself and am critical of how others have designed theirs. Then I think of the critics I have had about my designs and I understand that I am not as good as I thought in my designs and I did not fully understand why the designer of the other piano did what he did. But because it did not conform with the way I think then it must be wrong because I am right.</DIV> <DIV>The problem is that the moment that I do not think I am right is the moment that I will stop trying to improve the piano.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope this makes sense.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tony</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=donmannino@comcast.net href="mailto:donmannino@comcast.net">Donald Mannino</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, September 08, 2003 2:00 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Steinway M</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=3>Regarding Ron Overs' remarks,<BR><BR>There are many reasons to not criticize the design when speaking with the customer.  All you have to do is turn it around and think - what if they said that about my piano?<BR><BR>I am sorry to say that there is no such thing as a piano design which cannot be criticized, yours included Mr. Overs.  The very divergent opinions expressed on this list show this.  The aspects of individualism we admire in designs from people like Overs, or Stuart, or Del Fandrich are points of criticism for others.  And it isn't only the know-nothing salespeople selling against the innovative design - it is often well intentioned but perhaps misguided piano technicians who speak out against a design or method of construction, because it doesn't suit their individual tastes.<BR><BR>It is best to let the buyer decide if the individual traits of a particular piano are good or bad.  In the case of a technician evaluating a piano for an owner, the desire on the part of the owner is usually to know if this particular instrument is OK or not.  Pontificating on design disadvantages usually just upsets the owner, and in the end often hurts the technician's reputation.  I am not simply preaching here - my position on this was formed through some very unpleasant personal experiences long before I worked for any piano companies.<BR><BR>Once a piano buyer asks for opinions about which designs the technician prefers, of course, then we should feel free to express those opinions, and do our best to have a good factual basis for those them.<BR><BR>Don Mannino RPT<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>