<!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 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 1/9/2005 5:03:48 A.M. Pacific Standar= d Time, antares@euronet.nl 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= =4>Dear colleagues, Usually, original piano parts - and especially coming f= rom the high end market  - are not just expensive, but often outrageo= usly expensive, caused by power, false pride, arrogance and calculated gree= d, only because the name is "RR or Bentley" etc. At the same time thes= e parts can only be obtained through the 'official channels', meaning th= at the distributors are the only ones to have full access to these parts. Very often, ordered parts are not immediately available so the dealer, the tech, and the customer have to wait a very long time and b= y the time the ordered parts finally come into the hands of the technici= an, they are worth almost gold and thus the prices for repairs have to go sky high as well. A bottle neck in the availability of parts is mos= t often the fact that those same parts are not made in the piano factori= es but by a independent parts manufacturers, who, also usually, are not a= t liberty to sell RR and Bentley parts straight to the dealers or independent technicians.   Very often those supply houses (b= ut not all mind you) do not have the full knowledge and expertise about t= he products they sell because they are not technicians themselves.  = That means that less demanding technicians may be fairly content with what = they get, but more demanding technicians are quite often not satisfied with= the quality the stuff they ordered because their customers are usual more critical, aside from the long waiting time and the high price they hav= e to pay, a price often ridiculously overrated if we think about what it= actually is we hold in our hands : a few small pieces of wood, felt, cloth and metal.  Don't get me wrong... a well manufactured wippe= n, or a high quality piano hammer for instance is a product of decades of= development, accurately treated wood and the investment of lots of capital to design, make, and maintain precision machines. However, onc= e the machines do well, they spew out millions of pieces and the product= s can be sold to the manufacturers of piano's for a decent price, agreeable to both.  Once the piano factories start selling their parts to wholesalers, piano parts houses, the price has doubled and by= the time we get them in our paws, prices may have doubled again. This is a= normal commercial procedure and there is nothing against it, except that in some cases prices get out of hand so much that it becomes ridiculous, and a pain to both the dealer/technician and especially th= e customer. That is the moment where, when those factories have lost their reasonableness by asking too much, they start to dig their own graves. I personally have come to the conclusion that in the case w= here both price and availability of piano parts become hilarious, it is hig= h time to do something about it by finding alternatives, and good ones i= .e. far less expensive, and with much better service.  In certain cas= es it is possible to find channels outside the main stream of suppliers, = in other cases we can try to use our ingenuity and brain power, and find new small places where some parts can be copied, always cheaper, not always the same or better. In the latter case we must be patient an= d invest a lot of time with the new manufacturer(s) in order to both com= e to a point where the level and quality of the parts becomes agreeable and= satisfactory. I have tried this and I know it is possible and in findin= g these parts our colleagues can profit from the new and less expensive findings.  In some cases it is - not yet - possible to get satisf= ying alternatives but that is the more a reason to grin and be smarter. In the case of Yamaha, I don't find their prices too high = and the quality of their products is always tip top.  In some parts o= f the World there has been developed a policy where it is hard to get th= eir (Yamaha) parts, but in other parts it is no problem at all.  In m= y opinion that has to do with the suppliers, who often have a say in wha= t they sell. Talking about it almost always helps and patience and diplomacy are usually the way to progress. If it is clear that talk= ing, patience and diplomacy will not help, we are forced to dig in and use = our ingenuity. That in itself can be very very inspiring! I know........ (: >))) friendly greetings from André Oorebeek Vita Dura Est </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>