Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Brand New Conover Cable

Hi,

My wife and I just purchased a Conover Cable 48" Upright (model CC-121.) It arrived yesterday,and since it was unboxed in front of our home, it was out of tune (as I expected.)

The retailer will give us a free tuning as part of the purchase; what I'm wondering is: is it reasonable for us to assume that the tuning will also include some regulation of the action?

The Conovers at the store were very nice, so nice that we chose the CC-121 over a similarly priced Cable Nelson 46" built by Yamaha in China (it is very much a Yamaha, even to the extent that it has a Yamaha logo on the soundboard.)

Anyhow, our Conover Cable is gorgeous, with a polished ebony finish and classic styling, with French legs. And I'm sure it's adequate for our purposes, a practice piano. But it sure doesn't sound as nice or play as nice as the one in the store ....yet.

By the way, the Conover Cable is made by Samick and is built in Indonesia, and assembled in Tennesse.....

Thanks,

Keith Walsh

Hi Keith, your story is precisely the reason why we usually recommend shoppers to buy the exact piano they played in the store and write the serial number on the receipt so they can make sure they got the one they played.

As for what is reasonable to include, if you or the dealer did not mention regulation or voicing, a free tuning is probably just exactly that: tuning and nothing else. You can certainly ask, after the fact, for some regulation to be done, and the dealer may accommodate, depending on his/her inclination. Given that the piano arrived boxed, though, it appears to have received absolutely no dealer prep, which suggests to me that this is a dealer that doesn't care about providing prep.

So that's sort of a gloomy assessment. The not so gloomy part is that I am optimistic that the proper prep will result in your piano sounding close enough to the one you played in the store that you will be happy with it. You may just have to foot the bill for accomplishing it, though.

Congratulations on your new piano!

Personally, I would rather have the CC121 than a the Cable Nelson.

I would try to have the dealer commit to a "full service" of the piano, rather than just 1 tuning. You deserve that much at least. If they did no prep and no tuning before delivery, it will be a normal thing to have a tech. 4 to 6 times the first year. The strings will stretch and go out of tune quickly, the action will settle in and change with play, etc.

The piano should serve you well once that work is done.

Good Luck,

Thanks for the replies --

It occurred to me that the piano dealer, though probably conscientious, can't afford to have his 3 technicians doing full servicing on the many new pianos they sell each month. But if I make a little (polite) noise -- perhaps I can get a full service out of them.

Anyhow, the more I look at, play, and hear the CC-121, the more I like it. I am really looking forward to hearing and playing it once it's fully tuned and ready to go.

Thanks again for the replies; the information at this forum is very helpful and along with Larry Fine's book was a strong factor in helping us decide which piano to buy.

Keith

Enjoy your new piano and quit worrying. Once it's tuned and any small adjustments made, I'm certain you will enjoy it for many years to come. Virtually any new piano will need a few adjustments during the first couple of tunings. These often/usually are done in the store, but in your case they will necessarily occur in your home. Make notes about anything that bothers you about the piano, and mention everything to the tech who comes to tune it the first time. It is reasonable to expect these issues to be corrected during your "free" tuning. In the unlikely event that you aren't satisfied when the tech finishes, take it up with your dealer. He will most likely do what it takes to make you happy, unless you are totally unreasonable in your expectations. I don't think you are if you enjoyed the sound and feel of the CCs in the showroom.

I am a long time lurker who gave up participating in the old Usenet groups where I participated since 1995. I quit because some of the things passed on as truth on these forums made me sick. Especially when a dealer says he prefers something over something else without disclosing that he sells that factories products even though maybe not that particular brand. Disclosure makes things open, more credible, it allows the reader to made a judgment about how credible the comment may be. Sorry, I see nothing has changed.

If I delivered a boxed piano to a customer and included ONE tuning - I would be out of business in 2 weeks. I have no idea how "dealers" can get away with that kind of treatment to their customers.

Every new piano I sell includes full prep in store before delivery, which includes (at the minimum) a pitch raise, 2 tunings and minor regulation. On top of that we include 2 in home services within the first 6 months of ownership.

Proper piano prep is crucial to the customer's ultimate satifaction of the piano. Anything less will create unhappy customers that say "My XYZ piano is a piece of crap, don't ever buy one of these - buy an ABC piano" - even though the XYZ piano may actually be a better instrument.

The dealer who sold the Conover Cable without prep has done a giant disservice to every Samick dealer around the country.

Disclosure - I sell Samick digital pianos (Kohler) at my store.

Well, he does provide a link to his website where one could easily determine that, yes, he sells Samick pianos. I think dealer's points of view are interesting and informative if not always 100% impartial. Although I have no economic interest in piano sales, my opinions are not 100% impartial, either. The same could no doubt be said for yours, bennachem.

I do not know Rich, but from what I've seen on the forums he is one of the more ethical dealers posting here.

Well, folks, here's the happy ending --

The technician came today, and spent two hours or so (at a quick pace as well) tuning and regulating the action. About half of the keys he marked with an 'x' to identify tight bushings and other action problems, which he then corrected.

As a result, our Conover Cable sounds and plays as beautifully as the one in the store, in fact it's better. I don't usually use these silly gremlins, but in this case I'll make an exception: Whoo, hoo!

Keith

KWalsh,

Congratulations on your new piano and the "happy ending."

This one caught my eyes.
What does that mean? Usually, "built in somewhere" equates to "assembled in somewhere." I am very skeptical when I see a statement like that. Can any one in the know please confirm, deny, or elaborate?

Thanks.

how about a picture? thanks,

I do love a happy ending. And, as Agathis mentioned, please share some photos.

Hi Axtremus --

We were told that the parts were made in Indonesia and it was all put together in Tennessee -- good for two economies, I guess. Looking inside, I'm amazed at how a precision engineered instrument with so many little parts can still be affordable. In fact, If anyone can shed some light on this, it would be an interesting topic, I think!

I'll get some photos up when I have a chance to take them -- maybe soon....

Keith

Thanks for your response, KWalsh. That's the part I don't understand. Parts by themselves are cheap. Its the labor to assemble them together that's "expensive." It makes little economic sense to send cheap parts made in a "low cost" country (such as Indonesia) and then use "high cost" labor (American labor is expensive) to build a product.

Well... you're looking at a technology that's a century old! There is even more amazement in large scale integrated circuits -- e.g., that Intel chip running your computer has 100 million tiny transistors cramped in an area smaller than your pinky finger nail selling at less than 1/10 the cost of your piano. There are lots of parts in such consumer electronics as VCR and DVD players that are "higher precision" that piano parts, and those consumer electronics also sell for less than 1/10 the cost of your piano. And the age of nano technology beckons! Piano technology is really quite antiquated by modern standard.

My understanding is that the Tennessee facility is under construction. What you were told about that aspect is a projection for the future. I have experience with the complete Indonesian CC121 and they are just fine. Congratulations.

To the dealer delivering boxed acoustic pianos, shame on you.

To customers who insist on having pianos delivered "in the box", get educated on dealer preparation of newly received goods.

All's well that ends well. Enjoy your piano for many years!

--Dennis

Keith

Congrats and glad to see you are happy. It's great to hear about dealer's doing what's necessary to make the customer happy--which they often do.

Just out of curiosity, did you have the option of buying the piano you played and liked in the store?

Hello again,

We didn't want it. It was our first piano purchase and we figured the one on the floor was as much of an unknown quantity as the one in the box next to it -- even more so.

And for those who wanted a pic, here you go (if I get around to taking one during daylight, it will be even better -- and by the way, don't be shocked by the antique stylings -- we like it that way)



She also looked gorgeous with all of her mechanisms exposed !

Axtremus -- you're right of course, but the "old" technology is still amazing!

Keith